The wind grew heavier, pressing against the broken yard as if the world itself was watching. Dust and ash still circled the deep hole where Himiko had been trapped. Reji stood firm, gripping his kusarigama tightly, his arms slightly shaking from the pressure of maintaining his strong force.
"She's… back."
A sudden chill ran through everyone.
Tyouro narrowed his eyes, heat wave emission flickering around his hands. "Yeah… I feel it too…"
Kairo clenched his fists, sweat dripping down his face. "But… she's still inside the hole, right?"
Griffin adjusted his hat slowly, his gaze sharp. "No… something's wrong."
Lady Chõko's smile faded for the first time. Her eyes narrowed as she listened carefully. "Yayayayaya… this feeling… it's not coming from below…"
Reji's grip tightened. How…? I didn't feel her move… my chain is still wrapped around her… there's no way she escaped…
Seiyan stepped back slightly. "Then where is she…?"
Silence.
Then...
A soft whisper.
"Wrong guess…"
Reji's eyes widened.
Right behind him.
"The one you trapped…"
A cold presence brushed against his ear.
"…was never me."
Reji froze.
Before he could react, a sharp pain pierced through his shoulder as Himiko's naginata sliced cleanly across him. His body jerked forward, the chain losing tension instantly.
"Reji!" Seiyan shouted, rushing toward him.
The chain snapped loose, the hole below… trembled.
Then, it vanished, not collapsed, not destroyed, gone.
Like it never existed.
Kairo's eyes widened in disbelief. "What… what the hell…?"
Tatsuo stepped back, his calm expression finally breaking. "So… everything we saw…"
Griffin finished it quietly. "Was an illusion."
A heavy silence fell again.
Lady Chõko's grin slowly returned, but this time it was sharper, more serious. "Yayayayaya… so all that effort… all those attacks…"
Her eyes glowed slightly.
"…you made fools out of us."
Himiko stood there calmly, her expression unchanged, her naginata resting lightly on her shoulder.
"Not fools… just predictable."
Seiyan clenched his teeth. So when we thought we trapped her… when Yura attacked… when Shougo landed that punch… all of it… fake?
Kairo's mind raced. That means… she was watching us the whole time… studying everything…
Tyouro's flames flared stronger. "So you're saying… we've been fighting nothing this whole time?"
Himiko tilted her head slightly. "Not nothing… just something you wanted to believe."
Reji coughed, blood dripping as he forced himself to stand again. "Tch… so my strongest move… didn't even touch you…"
Himiko glanced at him. "It did… just not me."
A sudden burst of electricity cracked through the air.
Dracula stepped forward, lightning dancing around his arms. "Then let's stop playing your game."
In an instant, he vanished and reappeared above her, slamming down a bolt of electricity.
Boom!
The ground shattered.
Smoke spread,But...
Himiko stepped out of it untouched.
"…Too slow."
Dracula clicked his tongue and jumped back. "Yeah… figured."
Reji wiped the blood from his mouth and swung his kusarigama again, this time faster, stronger. "Then I'll just force you to be real!"
The chain shot forward, slicing through the air with immense pressure.
Himiko didn't move.
At the last second, she disappeared.
The chain hit nothing, again "Damn it!" Reji growled.
Kairo rushed in from the side, activating his gyakunn. "This time… I'll read you!"
He lunged forward, timing her movement
But his fist passed through air.
A voice echoed behind him.
"You still don't understand."
Kairo's eyes widened, too late.
A force attack blasted him across the yard, his body crashing hard against the ground.
"KAIIRO!" Tyouro shouted, rushing forward.
Himiko looked at them, her expression still calm, almost bored.
"You rely too much on what you see."
Tyouro stepped in front of Kairo, flames burning stronger. "And you rely too much on tricks."
He slammed his foot down, fire bursting outward as he launched himself forward at full speed.
"I'll burn through all of it!"
His fist, covered in heat wave emission, shot straight toward her-
For a moment, it looked like it connected,But then Himiko's body flickered.
And vanished, tyouro's punch hit empty space.
His eyes widened. "No way…" A light tap landed on his shoulder, He froze "Wrong again."
Boom!
A force attack sent him flying across the yard.
Griffin caught him mid-air, sliding back slightly from the impact. "Calm down… you're rushing."
Tyouro gritted his teeth. "She's… impossible to hit…"
Lady Chõko stepped forward slowly, cracking her knuckles.
Her aura changed, completely.
"Yayayayaya… I've had enough of this."
The ground around her started to tremble.
Her smile widened, but her eyes were cold now.
"You think you're the only one who can play tricks?"
She raised her hand slightly, fingers forming a precise sign, the air distorted, even Himiko paused.
"Oh?"
Lady Chõko's voice dropped, more serious than ever before.
"Let me show you something real."
Her fingers shifted again, forming a sharper, more complex hand sign.
"Dimensional…"
The sky above darkened instantly.
"…Cleave."
Silence.
Then, invisible slashes tore through the space around Himiko.
No sound, no warning, just pure destruction.
Himiko's eyes widened slightly as multiple unseen cuts struck her body at once, her form flickering under the impact.
For the first time, she moved back, shougo didn't hesitate.
His hand ignited with energy, yaki and yami blending together into something darker, heavier.
The aura around him felt suffocating "This is…" Griffin's eyes widened slightly "…a combination…"
Shougo stepped forward, his voice calm but firm "Yami doesn't just break the body." the energy around his fist condensed.
"It breaks what's inside."
He vanished and appeared right in front of Himiko "And when combined with yaki…" His fist drove forward "It destroys everything at once."
Boom!
The impact shook the entire yard.
A deep shockwave exploded outward, cracking the ground further as Himiko was finally sent flying back, her body crashing into the far end of the yard.
Silence fell, everyone stared.
Kairo slowly pushed himself up, eyes wide. "Did… did that actually hit…?"
Reji breathed heavily, gripping his weapon again. "No… that one…"
Tyouro smirked slightly despite the pain. "Yeah…"
"…that was real."
From the dust, a figure stood up slowly
Himiko.
Her body showed slight damage but she was still standing her expression unchanged.
"…Interesting."
For the first time, there was a hint of something in her eyes.
Not anger, not fear, something else and the fighg was far from over.