Imperatrix Umberosa 23: Shattered Realm
A bright Earth hung in the sky, as two combatants leapt high into the air. Ami put everything into her strike as she brought her sword down. To her immense frustration, her opponent almost casually blocked her blow, then struck a devastating counter blow that sent Ami tumbling towards the dusty ground below. She barely managed to turn back into a bolt of lightning, streaking back at her opponent. This time, she tried to come in from high and above her foe, swinging her katana in a swift arc.
-which was intercepted by a shield of Geo, trapping the sword. Ami would have freed it in another heartbeat, only for her to be hit with a wave of Cryo. She was trapped in glowing crystal, and dropped slowly in the light gravity, where she landed with a thump, sending up a cloud of pale moon dust.
“You’re too predictable,” the damn Yankee said, floating down and hovering over her with his arms crossed over his chest, cape billowing behind him. “I’ve told you a dozen times: You keep repeating the same attack pattern. If I can notice it, the Twins certainly will.”
In response, Ami stuck her tongue out at him. Or, well, she would have, if she weren’t trapped in Crystal.
Marisa hurried over and, using the purification rod she’d been granted, freed Ami from the Crystalize reaction.
“Ugh, if I was a god, I’d totally stomp you!” Ami huffed, glaring at Eidolon as he landed.
Only, no. Rat King. That was a weird name. He didn’t look like a rat. He was kinda ugly in a gonk sort of way, with a nose that had been broken too many times, a receding hairline, and a stocky build, and skin that was pale from wearing a mask all the time. But, well, he was a traitor. He might have betrayed the Yankees, which was good and proper, but that didn’t change what he was.
“And if my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a bike,” Rat King said flatly. “Again.”
Ami blew her bangs out of her eyes in frustration, then channeled her mother’s power again, going straight at Rat King in a blaze of lightning. Her attack was, of course, easily rebuffed.
Several kilometers away, a storm raged across the Luna surface as Mad Ivan fought her sister. Lightning clashed with the swirling rainbow chaos of the Prince’s blizzard, and Ami felt more than a little jealous. Unlike Ami, Tsu just kept winning against her sparring partner, even when they fought back on Earth.
After two more rounds of humiliation, the Rat King declared that it was time for a break, and let Ami go stew on a boulder with a sports drink and a hot towel with Marisa.
“It’s not fair! How does he keep beating me!? This isn’t how my Training Arc is supposed to go!” Ami ranted to her new friend.
“Well, the General is one of the oldest and most experienced capes on Earth Bet,” Marisa said, then hesitated. “At least, I think so. That’s what I’ve read. I don’t…I don’t actually remember.”
Ami took the older girl’s hand and squeezed it, feeling a pang of pity that she hastily squashed. “Have you gotten any of your powers back?”
In response, Marisa held up an Electro Delusion. “Her Divine Benevolence granted me this. She said there’s a hole in my soul where my demon used to reside, before it was…taken. So I don’t suffer as many of the ill effects. Though I try not to overuse it. Plus, there is the sword you gave me.”
Marisa touched the hilt of her katana and seemed reassured by its presence. Ami had forged that sword herself on the Plane of Euthymia, and while it wasn’t as powerful as one made by her mother, it was still a fine product of the Raiden Gokaden.
“What to practice with it?” Ami suggested. “At least then I’ll have a chance.”
Marisa glanced over at the Rat King, but he was watching the battle between the Prince and Tsu, his back to Ami and Marisa. “Um, General? May I-”
“Of course,” the Rat King said, turning and giving Marisa a gentle smile. He was all cold indifference when his gaze shifted to Ami. “Bind yourself, Princess. No powers. Marisa, use your Delusion.”
Ami muttered something under her breath that wouldn’t be printable in her manga, but nodded. Concentrating, she cut herself off from her mother’s power, as well as Murasaki-san, who was sunbathing in a little lounge chair with sunglasses on while sipping a drink. The little traitor had informed Ami that “a little humility would do you good, mistress” and had proceeded to spend the rest of the day skiving off.
Still, even with her abilities bound, Ami was still noticeably superhuman. Her body was a Divine Vessel, and her spirit and soul were being forged into godhood, she just knew it! Plus, she had studied Origin Bladework with her mother for six years, and was a verified Blademaster. Even a normal human who became a Blademaster was more than a match for most capes, and Ami hadn’t been normal since…well. Since she was adopted. Maybe before that.
In contrast, Marisa was an amnesiac who had only been studying the blade for the four weeks since she’d been rescued by the Rat King from her prison cell, and had only an Electro Delusion, which was inferior in every way to a Vision. Still, Marisa was a fast learner, and with her newfound powers and single-minded determination, she was more than an even match for Ami.
Even bound, Ami managed to win 5-2 in their seven bouts, though by the end of it, even she was tiring. It was spiritually taxing to fight with her powers bound, and she was very reliant on her connection to her mother to maintain her powers.
Seeing she was exhausted, the Rat King instead chose to drill her on the Twin’s tactics.
“So, how do you counter Myradin and Ashbeast?” he demanded.
Ami groaned. “Use an overload reaction and don’t worry about the pocket dimension. I think Bohu will pick better powers. This is lame, it’s impossible to think of everything she could use.
“You have to account for every possible combination of powers. We don’t know what combination of powers will manifest, but it could be anything. How do you counter Tohu’s seven swords? Dendro and Hydro.”
“Ugh, that’s hyperbloom, I just zap it and make it my own reaction.”
When they broke for lunch, her stomach was rumbling, and hurried over to the pavilion where the leporidians were setting out a repast for their mistress and guests.
A small garden had been hastily planted around the pavilion, mostly with potted plants, but a rock garden had been arranged as well. The Pavilion itself was painted red and had the hanok style of a curved tile roof, and was painted purple and adorned with Dalnim’s personal sigil of the red and blue taegeuk with a purple electro symbol imposed over it. For something that had been thrown up a week ago, the structure was remarkably solid.
“Thanks, Popukar,” Ami said as the young rabbit girl with an eyepatch set a bowl of hot vegetable soup in front of her. Not carrot, actually, but leek, and very delicious. Tsu joined her shortly thereafter, manifesting herself in the empty chair, sweat staining her white and black dobok.
“Hey,” Ami said, nodding. “So, did you win?”
“I will not claim victory until the Twins are slain,” Tsu said soberly as Popukar hastily set a platter of fried chicken and kimchi in front of her.
Ami rolled her eyes. “So, you beat Crazy Ivan again. Want to trade sparring partners? Maybe I could beat him in a sword fight if he doesn’t go all weird storm on me.”
“Ivan Petrov is our guest,” Tsu said sternly, even as the mad harbinger staggered up to the platform, waving his cavalry saber and shouting for vodka. Tsu glanced over at him, though as per his requests, he had Fatui who were nearly as weird and unhinged as he was to serve him instead of leporidians. That was good, as the rabbit folk flatly refused to go anywhere near Crazy Ivan after he nearly drove poor Rope crazy by attempting to scramble her brains. Even if she had tried to pick his pocket.
“...even if he is…unsettled,” Tsu admitted, as Ivan began to loudly sing some Russian drinking song or other.
In contrast, the Rat King and Marisa sat quietly at a table by themselves, sipping vegetable soup and talking in hushed tones.
“...do you think we can trust them? I like Marisa, but…they do work for the Tsarista,” Ami whispered.
“They are yet our foes. All the better for us to train against,” Tsu said with a slight shrug. “Be cautious of Marissa. She has felt the Tsaritsa’s touch as well, and Dantalion is nearly as treacherous as her minions.”
“Yeah, I just-” Ami began, then gasped in shock. It felt as though she’d suddenly been dipped in icy, scummy water, similar to how she’d felt when the Abyss had attacked the Chishima islands. Tsu had stood and whirled, facing the Earth overhead as thunder rumbled.
Time slowed to a crawl. The leporidians froze in the act of bringing out a platter of dasik cookies for Ami and Dalnim to share, and Marisa was a statue with a spoon halfway to her mouth. Even Crazy Ivan stood still, a bottle of vodka raised to his lips.
“Waaaaaatttttsssss haaaaaapppppeeeeennnnniiiiiinnnnggggg,” Rat King demanded, slowly standing and moving as though he was moving through thick syrup. Interesting. It seemed the Tsaritsa had already begun whatever process she would use to create her own dragon. It was a bit ironic, as Ami recalled her mother’s agents reporting that the Tsaritsa considered the creation of dragons to be folly. And yet, here they were.
Still, he couldn’t fully enter the temporal bubble that Ami and her sister had created by reflex. He was too inexperienced, and he lacked most of the divine attributes that let them manipulate time.
“Mistress!” Murasaki gasped, popping into the air beside Ami’s head. “What has happened!?”
“The Twins have appeared on Jeju Island,” Tsukuyomi growled, flicking her hand down, sword appearing in her hand. “They are attacking Jeju City as we speak.”
“Then we have little time,” Ami’s mother said, stepping out of a portal and carrying pieces of armor. Her face was smeared with cinders and reddened from her forge, and she was wearing the jacket and trousers of a blacksmith, not her usual fine kimono.
“Mom, I, I thought you couldn’t,” Ami swallowed, her throat tightening. She’d been bragging that she could easily defeat both Tohu and Bohu on her own, but now that the moment was here…she was afraid. She could remember the Leviathan attack on Nagasaki. How powerless she’d felt. The fear as her mother and father ran with her to the Endbringer shelters. The sound of the endless sirens, and the shelter slowly flooding with water, her parents pushing her face up to the ceiling so she could breathe.
Of course, then her mother had come and saved everyone, becoming the Endslayer. She’d adopted Ami, who was no longer the powerless little mortal girl she had been on that dark day six years ago.
But she was only 14, and right now, she felt more like a little girl than a grown woman ready for battle. And her mother couldn’t save her this time.
“Mother. We stand ready. We are prepared,” Tsu said, but her voice shook slightly, and Ami could see her sister gripping her sword’s hilt to keep them from shaking. Apparently, even her robot sister got scared.
“You are,” their mother said, setting down her burdens. She had her hair under a white kerchief, and her eyes were a bit red. Had she been crying? Ami didn’t think she’d ever seen her mother cry.
Ei picked up a quilted robe that was just Ami’s size. It was reinforced with small metal plates, and Ami saw that her mother had painstakingly etched protective sigils onto each individual plate, instead of enchanting the entire outfit. Swallowing, Ami hastily stripped out of her training gi, and allowed her mother to dress her, tightening straps and adjusting the fit until it fit perfectly. The armor was lightweight, perfect for Ami’s preferred hit and run style of combat, barely constraining her movement at all while providing maximum protection. The kabuto helmet was open faced, with the imperial Electro sigil on a sunburst worked into the leather.
There really were tears in her mother’s eyes as she looked at Ami, hands on her shoulders. Ei gave Ami a squeeze. “Fear not. You shall triumph.”
Ami couldn’t help it. She did cry then, and wrapped her arms about her mother’s neck and held on for dear life. But only for a few heartbeats.
Then, she stepped back, and her mother began to dress Dalnim, who stood still and impassive, silent tears trickling down her own cheeks. Her sister’s armor was similar in style: a quilted robe with metal plates, in the style of the Korean Joseon dynasty. Her own helmet was conical, with a purple horse-hair plum sticking out of the top, and a silver crescent moon etched into the metal.
“Mother,” Dalnim whispered as Ei silently adjusted the armor. “Why does my heart quaver? I have longed for battle. Why, now that it arrives, do I feel fear? I felt no such thing when we repelled the Abyss.”
“And you will not in the moment. This is not cowardice. This proves you are alive,” Ei said, pausing and resting a hand on Dalnim’s shoulder, a sad smile on her lips. “Your Aunt, Makoto, said the same to me, once. For hundreds of years, I felt no fear when I went into battle. Initially, I was merely a lightning spirit. I felt no real emotions, for lightning knows neither fear nor pain, sadness nor joy. Yet over time, as our followers grew, and I became more than merely the shadow of my twin sister’s glow, I became more human. Then, one day, before a battle with a mighty god of war and thunder known as Raijin, I was nearly paralyzed with terror.
“Makoto found me in my tent, gripping my sword, my face white and pale. That was the first body I had taken, one of simple wood carved by a lightning strike. It had become fleshy and warm when I dwelt in it, though that had taken much time. I, too, asked her what this was.
“Yet when I rode into battle at the head of my army, my fear vanished. I had no time for fear. I had a god to slay. You, my daughters, feel the same. You are warriors. Brave, fierce, and true. You are truly the Lightning’s Glow. Yet, now, on the eve of battle, in the moments before the thunder rolls and the lightning flashes, you too feel. You, too, are alive. And you will remain so. Go now. Save your people, my daughter. Strike true.”
With those words, Ei drew forth her own sword, and handed it to Ami, who accepted it with a bow. She gave Dalnim a woldo, the long crescent blade of the polearm showing Dalnim’s own face on one side, and on the reverse, Ei’s. Both girls were given bows and arrows, each shaft made from wood from Nahida’s own branches, and fletched with feathers Ziz had plucked from her own wings.
Then, Ei did hug them both. She then stepped aside, the portal behind her shifting to show a bustling city crowded between the shore and a long dormant volcano at the center.
Ami looked to Murasaki, who had grown to the size of a horse, his horn crackling with power. Then she looked to her sister, who had dried her tears, her face going red with rage.
There were bodies in the streets. Only a few, and many had not even hit the ground yet. But the Twins had appeared on a crowded corner at mid-morning on a weekday, and their emergence had killed a score.
“What’s our plan?” Ami asked, leaping into Murasaki’s saddle.
“Clear the area of civilians first. I will evacuate the entire city, here, to my surface,” Dalnim said, her eyes flashing. “Can you distract them both for one minute? That is how long it will take to transport them.”
“Of course,” Ami said, her heart pounding in her ears. “If I haven’t killed them both by the time you finish, you can come help me mop up.”
“Heh. Try not to have too much fun,” Dalnim said, flashing her teeth. She nodded. “Begin.”
Ami charged through the portal, and the world snapped back into motion. She couldn’t create a temporal bubble that enveloped just her, and Dalnim had that much control only on the lunar surface. That meant they had to fight the Twins in realtime, and every second was going to count.
Bohu was already lifting into the air, her voice booming as she proclaimed,
REJOICE, MORTALS. THE TIME OF TESTING IS AT HAND. YOUR DEATHS SHALL-
Ami interrupted her by sending a bolt of electro into the two-meter-tall, alabaster skinned demon, though Tohu deflected it with a swipe of her swords.
Ami did not see the result, however, as she and Murasaki had already teleported next to the larger Bohu, stopping the rusty red monstrosity as she spread her wings, one bone and leather, the other black crystal, and used her wiry hair to flay a crowd of screaming civilians.
These lives are not yours to take! Ami shouted, her voice reverberating with power. Murasaki lowered his head and charged, and Ami vanished from the saddle, attacking Bohu from behind with her blade.
Ah. You have already arrived, little specimen, the Endbringer hissed, catching the Musou Isshin with her talons, her wings buffering away Murasaki. And you. The traitor. Your blood shall taste sweet, Vector Collapse.
Murasaki flared his nostrils and whinnied in rage. That name is dead to me. My loyalty is to my Mistress, Raiden Ami, the Lightning Princess! You are the Drivers of a dead god, demon bitch!
Where is the other? Bohu demanded, slashing at Ami with two of her swords, the flaming blade of Pyro, and the rippling blue of the Hydro blade. The Being who claimed the Moon. I wonder, if we slay her, will the satellite crumble to dust, or will her pet specimens on the lunar surface simply die as it reverts to a lifeless rock?
Ami was almost offended at how artless Tohu’s attacks were. She was graceful and swift, and flowed like a snake, but she attacked with mechanical precision. There was no life, no soul in her blade work, and Ami easily countered the attacks, even managing to make Tohu hiss with shock when Ami scored a small cut on her left forearm, black blood staining the demon’s white skin.
Still, Ami had no time to celebrate, teleporting away as Tohu ignored the cut, and pressed the attack. Behind them, Bohu and Murasaki’s clash reverberated with blows that seemed to make the air detonate, sending out shockwaves that shattered glass and cracked the pavement under them. Unfortunately, Murasaki hadn’t been training. He was soon bleeding from a dozen wounds, his horn’s tip cut off, and his breath ragged and labored.
“MURASAKI-SAN!” Ami screamed and tried to teleport in to attack Bohu from above.
Bohu, however, saw it coming. Perhaps it was simply that Ami moving at the speed of lightning was still slow enough for the Endbringer to react. Or, as the Rat King had warned her, her attacks were too predictable. Regardless, the Endbringer sent a wave of crystals at Ami, and knocked her back.
Narwhal’s power, Ami thought to herself. Rat King had explained his theory that Bohu, his daughter, had an ability similar to his own old parahuman power: She could copy and use the abilities of other parahumans, though unlike her father, she could be far more selective in which abilities she chose. In the previous fight, she’d copied the Fairy Queen, Farasha, and a few others. This time, it looked like Narwhal, along with a Combat Thinker ability of some kind.
“Mistress!” Murasaki bugled and tried to attack Bohu, only to be rebuffed. Then, Ami screamed in horror as Tohu stabbed Murasaki through the chest with her twin blades. His kirin form vanished with a puff, and it was a small, bleeding dragon that lay in the street, unconscious.
Then, both endbringers turned their attention to Ami. It was everything she could do to keep away from the Twins, who relentlessly assaulted her. She took a number of small wounds, cuts on her arms, legs, chest, and even her face. Her body healed rapidly, especially with her mother’s sword in her hands, but without her new armor, she would have been dead from the blows.
Everything was consumed by dodge, parry, slash, and teleport. She tried to randomize as much as possible, but no matter what tactics she tried, Tohu and Bohu were there, meeting her with claws and blades. Just as Ami took another cut to her thigh, one that would have severed her leg if not for the enchanted plates, the sunlight suddenly vanished. Above them in the sky, a total solar eclipse began to take place. Tohu and Bohu both backed off, looking up suspiciously as the glowing moon occluded the sun.
What is this? Tohu hissed. There is not to be an eclipse for two weeks, and not here. We planned this for the new moon.
Thunder rumbled, and Dalnim’s voice echoed over the city. DEMONS. YOU DARE INTRUDE UPON MY LANDS? BEHOLD NOW, THE WRATH OF A GOD!
Ami turned herself back into a lightning bolt, pausing only to gather up Murasaki’s stricken form, before appearing in the sky, the black disc of her sister obscuring the sun behind her.
Your story ends here, demons! Ami roared as Dalnim appeared beside her.
Together as one, they raised their swords, drawing upon their divine power, and their mother’s training.
KOREA SHINES ETERNAL! Ami and Dalnim screamed in unison and unleashed the Musou no Hitotachi.
Two great blades of crackling electro shot forth, right at Tohu and Bohu, who were rising up to meet them. Ami bared her teeth in a vicious grin. Nothing could survive her mother’s ultimate technique. She had trained for years, and at last, she had performed it nearly perfectly. It was a pity about Jeju Island, but the people were evacuated. It was a small sacrifice to-
Tohu and Bohu, moving as one, parried the Musou no Hitotachi. Bohu had combined the crystals of Narwhale with a burning sword of light, and made the edge extend out nearly to Eternity. Brandish, Chevalier, and Jack Slash, Ami’s mind supplied, thanks to the endless drills of the Rat King. Four powers. She was using four powers.
For her part, Tohu was wielding her amber Geo blade along with her icy Cryo Blade. The most solid and steadfast of combinations. The twins intersected Ami and Dalnim’s descending electro blades, and with a deafening crash, redirected the energy into the dormant Jeju volcano, which was reduced to first rubble, then dust as the Musou no Hitotachi pulverised the ancient stones.
And on both their brows, shone a shinning chess piece. On Tohu’s was the burning Pyro Gnosis, and on Bohu’s Ami’s mother’s electro gnosis crackled with power. Their divine energies infused their deflection, and in turn, riposted, causing Ami to scream as she was hit by an Overload reaction.
We….we failed, Ami thought, feeling the energy drain from her muscles. She had put everything into that attack: She had nothing left. I’m sorry, mother. Tsu. I’m sorry!
Bohu appeared before Ami, moving at impossible speeds, her fangs bared in a slasher smile. Ami managed to get the Musou Isshin up, but her mother’s blade was battered aside. Ami screamed in pain as Bohu Geo blade slashed across her face, cutting her left eye and taking away half the light of the world.
Then Tsu was there. Her sister snarling with rage as she sliced at Bohu. The Endbringer howled as Tsu’s blade took off her right wing, but then Tohu was stabbing Tsu in the chest. Or was it Dalnim? Right, they were the same…but her sister was plummeting towards the Earth along with Ami. She tried to slice at the Twins, but her arms felt like limp udon noodles, and she couldn’t muster the strength. Dalnim was trying to blast Tohu off, but the Endbringer was driving the moon god down towards the Earth at breakneck speeds.
Ami could only watch as Bohu closed in on her, claws extended, mouth opening to reveal glistening fangs as the Endbringer reached for her throat.
Then, an icy wind enveloped them. Tohu and Bohu were blasted away, and there was a flutter of white wings.
“I got you!” an angel’s voice said, and Ami blinked stupidly at Ziz as the Anemo dragon cradled her in one arm, Dalnim in the other, flapping her wings to slow their descent. They still landed with enough force to knock what little breath remained out of Ami’s body, and she lay on the broken ground, vision swimming as Ziz crouched over her and the coughing Dalnim, wings spread.
Tohu and Bohu appeared, faces distorted with rage, hovering over Ziz.
Sister. Why do you interfere? This test is ours, Tohu hissed, licking Dalnim’s blood from her blade with a long, forked tongue.
It is as we suspected: You are a traitor, Bohu snarled, her face elongating into a horrific visage of an ape-like demon.
“I’m saving your asses, morons,” Ziz spat. “Or do you want to die?”
Tohu laughed, a screeching, cacophonous sound that reminded Ami of nails on a chalkboard. The Avatar ordered us here, Simurgh. At whose command do you come now?
“Mine.”
Ami blinked away blood to look up as Tohu and Bohu whirled to see the Rat King, wearing his mask, cape fluttering about him as he posed like Piccolo atop a miraculously intact street light.
Father, Tohu hissed, raising her swords, while Bohu snarled wordlessly and spread her wings.
“Daughters,” the Rat King said with a slow nod. “I would not see you perish this day. So, your sister and I have come to preserve your lives.”
Preserve us? We have triumphed in this test, and are about to claim the lives of these pathetic beings, Bohu cackled, flapping her wings once and shooting up to hover before the Rat King.
“And that would be the last thing you ever attempted to do,” the Rat King answered, his voice almost too soft for Ami to hear. “Or do you not see the Lightning’s Glow?”
Slowly, Tohu and Bohu looked up. The Moon had gone red, a bleeding crater having appeared on the lunar surface. However, it was increasingly obscured by dark clouds, that rumbled with thunder. Within the brewing storm, Ami sensed her mother.
“Mother…d-don’t. He…he’ll kill you,” Ami coughed, her breath wheezing in her throat. She tried to sit up, but she couldn’t do more than tilt her chin slightly.
“We…we have not lost,” Dalnim gasped, using her spear to force herself to her knees under Ziz’s spred wings. “We…we can fight on. I…I can fight on.”
Tohu and Bohu sneered for a moment until Ziz kicked Dalnim in the back, and sent her sprawling, her polearm going clatering across the rubble of the street. “Don’t be stupid. You got your ass handed to you. You lost. My sisters won.”
“You have your data. They have been tested. They are Unworthy,” the Rat King said flatly, and Ami let out a soft groan. “Now, go report to the Warrior. Tell him the time is not yet right. And decide who you will test next.”
One day, it will be your turn, Father. Sister, Tohu chuckled, sheathing her swords. Only the Worthy will ascend from this Cycle. It shall be us, not you, who complete the Cycle.
The Cycle needs only two to complete it, Bohu agreed. We two are enough. Already, we have the Gnosis. Soon, we shall test you. And the Lightning’s Glow shall not give a fig if we claim your lives.
“I’d like to see you try,” Ziz sniffed.
Cackling, Tohu and Bohu flew off to the south, heading for Mount Cerberus.
Ziz sighed, and her wings vanished. “Sorry, girls. But I gotta go. Dad and I just…well. We played the card we had. And it worked. But the Golden Fucker is watching too.”
“Thank…thank you,” Ami panted, and Ziz nodded tightly, before rising up to where her father waited. Both departed, heading to the west.
Then, Ami’s mother was there, cradling her and Dalnim’s broken bodies.
“M-mother. I…I failed you,” Dalnim coughed as Ei silently began to bandage the Moon god’s chest wound. There were tears trickling down Ei’s cheeks, but she did not speak.
“How…how many?” Ami gasped, letting her mother wind a white bandage about her face.
“One-hundred twenty seven,” Ei said quietly, and Ami lowered her head in shame. So. The lives of 127 of their people would go unavenged. And the Twins would strike again, one day. Dalnim wept bitter tears, and the moon began to fade from the sky, returning to its normal position.
“M-Murasaki-san?” Ami asked, her mind turning to her familiar.
“Alive. But only just,” Ei said, picking Ami up like she was a small child again. “Come. You must rest.”
They departed, leaving behind a ruined city.
And the shattered illusion of the Archon’s invincibility.