Lota clutched her pounding heart and hid within the darkness of the checkpoint. Her hands were slick with sweat, covering her ears, as vivid memories of that nightmarish evening resurfaced in her mind.

“Senior…!”

Unconsciously, Lota attempted to step outside the checkpoint. The image of Clara, blood pouring from every orifice of her face, lay sprawled out, pale and lifeless, etched itself vividly into her thoughts.

Just like that.

The moment she tried to step forward—

"You absolutely must not come out―☆"

Stopped―!

“…!”

What held her back was…

The smile of a sister she could trust, the second one she had met in her life, after the sorrowful and lonely days of losing her sister to illness.

A warm embrace.

Gentle eyes.

A fragrant scent of hair.

‘I am…!’

At that moment, a shock as if the world had been turned upside down struck her.

Thud!

“…?!”

A shockwave spread so violently that the ground trembled.

Even from tens of meters away, the heat was palpable.

Caught off guard by the impact, Lota, in her awkward stance, was sent sprawling forward.

Her sensitive feline ears quivered from the vibrations, and her stomach churned.

“Ah…?!”

Still sprawled on the ground, Lota grasped her cat ears and whimpered, recalling the memories of ‘that time.’

The burning city beneath the bright moonlight.

Four wings that seemed to obscure the sky.

The black ether, crashing like waves, suffocating her heart.

The massive eyes, seen only once, but frequently appearing in nightmares.

With a face gone pale, Lota muttered the name of their group.

‘Ra… <Ratatosk>… Why are those things in the Golden Street…?’

Enemies she had encountered since the start of the semester.

Beyond the checkpoint now, <Ratatosk> swarmed with power comparable to that of a ‘believer.’ Just the residual black ether emitted from the truck they shattered sent shivers through her skin.

“…”

There was nothing her incompetent self could do here.

After all, she was the fool who had been expelled from her previous school.

And just a kid who could only belatedly follow the paths others walked.

‘Last time, only Alvit and Kara fought… I always end up just being a burden like this…’

It was ridiculous.

Despite confidently boasting to Alvit.

In the end, all she could do was hide here, being of no help.

‘Senior Clara… Why do you keep fighting despite being so battered…?’

How long.

How much longer…

How long must I keep hiding and being a burden?

‘With foolish dreams… an incompetent fool who’s of no help… So both sister and senior…’

Endlessly blaming herself internally, Lota lowered her head deeply.

“…”

The battle continued relentlessly.

Voices of two seniors could be heard from afar.

"Localized, precision strike, standby… activate―!"

"Stray cat~♡ I'll borrow a few of these―☆"

"Standby, standby, standby―!"

Freyja urgently halted the activation of her skill and yelled angrily.

"This, this… crazy pink airhead―!! You’re interrupting my calculations, just take one―!!"

"Sorry, sorry―♪ But dual-wielding weapons are a girl’s romance―☆"

"Throw away that romance!! Only delinquent thugs do such foolish things―!!"

"Yep♪ Wanted to try it once―☆"

"It’s making it worse―!!"

For a moment, the seniors bickered.

But they resumed fighting with busy movements.

From just the sounds alone, it was a speed beyond Lota's comprehension.

However, mismatched sounds indicated their synergy wasn’t perfect.

‘Senior Clara… How can she fight like that…?’

Lota thought about the pink-haired senior fighting beyond the barricade.

Despite being so wounded.

Despite losing so much.

Despite being so broken.

Why do you rise and fight again?

‘Why…?’

Dragging her trembling legs, Lota cautiously peered outside through a crack in the checkpoint door.

Out there was a dancing girl bathed in pink.

Though the great pink storm she had seen that night wasn’t there, she flowed like a dance with a purple weapon in each hand.

Gathering the faint ether, she fought to protect everyone.

“Sister.”

Like the dance her sister had shown her once.

Crude and awkward but filled with pure intent.

‘Sister, how can you dance like that even when you're hurting?’

‘Because there are feelings I want to convey!’

Conveying feelings…

Lota had emotions she needed to convey to them too.

‘Watch! The path that [Spiral] takes…!’

“No. I won’t just watch anymore.”

She knew it was a foolish act.

Yet, she couldn’t leave them dancing alone any longer.

Dancing with them wouldn’t erase all their pain, but still…

‘I have feelings to convey…!’

To you.

To the feelings born when we met.

Clack—!

To finally respond to their love.

Lota gripped the door handle of the checkpoint with trembling hands.

＊

Honestly… it was kind of fun.

‘I can’t recklessly spam ultimate moves, but I can efficiently pierce through using the same skill set. It's common sense that weapons are stronger than fists…’

This must mean I’ve been defying common sense all this time…

Instead of brutishly overwhelming with output.

Truly reading the enemy’s attacks to strike.

This was subtler yet more efficient than the brute methods I’ve used.

“Take that―☆”

I swung the purple twin swords, aiming directly at the head of the believer still transforming. The clash of two different ethers resounded with a fearsome noise.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of light red and purple ethers colliding.

A sound like that of a chainsaw in operation.

“Urgh…?!”

Rrrr!

The head of the believer, still in the middle of transformation, shattered to pieces.

Turning into a scene straight out of a B-movie horror flick.

I disclosed the name of the martial art used on the unconscious foe. Even if they were enemies, it was only proper to name the technique I used.

“This is Pretty☆Hamburg☆Swordplay―♪ My master in this art was a wandering rogue… a hermit who dual-wielded scrap metal greatswords―♪”

“…”

“He’s currently residing in <Gjallarhorn>'s detention facility for stealing bread…”

“…”

But the foe remained silent, not answering my words.

The two-colored ether, dripping from the twin swords that had collided, made a threatening wind noise as it shattered the skull. The hulking body plummeted to the ground below with a loud crash.

Thud—!

“Phew―☆ That makes four now―♪”

I successfully recreated the rogue’s technique of cleaving a helmet with dual swords.

‘The guy was just a typical thug, but his swordsmanship was so unique, it left a lasting impression.’

Dual-wielding short sword charge.

Dual-wielding greatsword whirlwind.

Twin sword helm splitter.

Among all the techniques used by the small fry of <Academy City Yord>, I tried every technique that involved dual-wielding. It felt like I could mimic them by following my habit of punching with both fists.

But after trying them, my impression was…

‘Not great, dual-wielding weapons. No wonder no one but small fries use it… Was Liu Bei really a master of martial arts for blocking Lu Bu’s attacks with it?’

Liu Bei wielding twin hooked swords.

Could it be that he was such a formidable dual-wielding master because he was an elf unburdened by age? Certainly, his ears were long, and his popularity was suspiciously high as the last elf high school girl in China.

Shaaah――!

A hasty believer finally completed their transformation, covering their upper body with dragon scales. With a roar, they charged toward me.

‘They’ll probably use the adult chaos insect summoning pattern again.’

But today, I was Clara, the enemy of a thousand men.

Tonight, I felt like I could keep swinging all night without tiring.

Anyway.

In conclusion, dual-wielding weapons aren’t worth it.

With that thought, I activated my ether and stepped onto the rooftop.

Thud—!

The shockwave emanated from my foot.

With a massive vibration, the rooftop floor cracked, and I could almost sense the tears of the building owner, hoping the beastfolk would handle the bill later.

‘Sorry, owner. I didn’t want to use this technique.’

I drove the two purple greatswords into the ground. When I drew the ether again, two colors of ether clashed, refusing to merge.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Using that power.

I shattered the rooftop beneath me.

Debris erupted and flew from where the twin swords were embedded.

Rumble—!

Dozens of debris pieces floated in the air.

I shot them, one by one, with my twin swords. The fragments soared toward the believer with a dragon-like face, making menacing sounds.

A shotgun-like formation fired by hand.

The sharp sound of bullets slicing through the air.

Zip!

Zip!

Zip!

I swung my twin swords, firing the dozens of debris while shouting.

“Pretty☆Biscuit―♪”

“Kyaaaak?! You inferior breed―?!”

“Your flank is open―♪”

And I stabbed into the side of the believer, who had raised both hands to protect their face.

Crunch――!

Freyja’s purple ether emitted a menacing sound. It pierced through the stone-like skin effortlessly, and the believer screamed.

“Kraaaagh―?!”

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The side exploded into a gruesome display from the ether resonance, as if it had been shredded by a chainsaw. The foe, carried by their momentum, fell to the ground below.

I chuckled at the sight.

‘Even at this point, they’d be quite a formidable opponent, but they ran into me.’

I couldn’t yet draw on my [Unique Ether], but even now, I was fighting using Freyja’s ether left in the purple weapons. The purple weapons imbued with [Unique Ether] were formidable weapons in themselves.

‘But using them like this feels unexpectedly inconvenient.’

Whirr—

The twin swords vibrated every time they encountered my ether.

It felt like holding two magnets of the same pole, forcing them together. Like gripping a dynamometer, they tried to break free.

“…”

Due to the independent nature of the [Unique Ether], these weapons were heavily influenced by Freyja’s perception and emotions. Just a bit of force caused such intense repulsion.

‘Is it because the stray cat can’t yet imagine unconsciously lending me her power…?’

Rumble――!

Freyja continued fighting.

On the opposite road, she unleashed waves of purple weapons at the believers and the multitude of chaos insects. As this power manifested, the purple weapon in my hand quivered in sync.

It was as if the purple twin swords were shouting at me.

"You scarred pink-headed fool…! What on earth are you doing with me…! Hurry and return me to my master…!"

‘Alright, go then… Jeez…’

Now that most of the believers were dealt with.

All that was left was to handle the dozens of adolescent chaos insects.

With a sigh of resignation, I released the two purple weapons into the air.

Whoosh—!

As expected, the twin swords joined back with Freyja’s command without hesitation.

“…”

Regrettably, if I were to use a weapon… it might be better to find something else rather than these magical skill weapons.

‘I thought they were an infinite supply, cost-effective choice…’

There’s always a reason why people don’t use certain methods.

Shhh—!

Shhh—!

The dozens of adolescent chaos insects howled around me.

They were the summons left behind by the believers, who were like adult chaos insects.

As I pondered how to deal with them, I saw something unbelievable. Down below, a pair of cute orange cat ears were approaching me.

‘I told her to stay hidden?!’

With a startled heart, I quickly ran toward that spot.

Now I could move several meters without issue.

Tap-tap—!

I swiftly scooped up the orange cat and moved her to a safe spot. She looked surprised but soon relaxed, giving me a sheepish look.

“Lota―☆ What brings you here♪”

“Well, I know it’s dangerous…!”

“…”

“But… even so…! I can’t just leave my senior alone!”

“…”

“It’s just that…”

After hesitating for a while.

Finally, Lota burst into tears, wailing loudly.

“I don’t care! If I die, I’ll die with you!! I don’t want to be left alone anymore!! I can’t bear to see precious people lost anymore―!!”

“Lota…”

Hug—!

Lota clung to me.

“Both sister and senior… always go ahead and leave me behind…! I, I too…!”

“…”

Honestly… it was only shocking for a moment.

I found myself accepting the situation remarkably quickly.

I couldn’t always keep the juniors separated from danger.

‘Yeah… if things have changed, I must teach them to fight together.’

And right now.

There was a way for the two of us to fight together.

‘Perhaps… if it’s Lota’s weapon…’

With that thought, I turned my back to Lota.

“Then…☆ Shall we fight together? The weapon the stray cat made is as picky as her personality―♪”

“…!”

Lota, surprised for a moment, nodded after understanding my words.

“Yes!”

Climbing onto my back, Lota promptly summoned her weapon.

[Why bring the longsword when it’s cold; use it as a poker instead.]

Her incantation was as gentle as her nature.

A longsword adorned with a silly cat illustration.

Yet, the weapon did not reject my touch.

Instead, it accepted my faint ether and gradually heated up.

‘I feel a tickling sensation… I think… I can use an ultimate move…?’

Gripping the cat longsword in both hands, I looked forward.

Shhh—!

Shhh—!

Dozens of adolescent chaos insects recognized us and charged. The sight of these giant bear-like creatures, extending hideous pincers, was revolting.

But amidst it all, I found myself smiling.

“Fufu☆”

“W-why…? Is something wrong?”

Lota asked anxiously.

I shook my head and answered.

“Just―☆ I feel like I won’t lose―♪”

“…!”

I charged toward the oncoming chaos insects.

Wrapping ether around the cat sword in my hands.

The sword transformed into a bouquet of white flowers, and the resonance it created.

My first ultimate move.

It was the first time I was shooting it with a weapon in battle.

Yet, for some reason, I felt no sense of impending loss.

Crackle—!

I thrust the sword, now a white bouquet, forward and shouted.

“[Red Flower Darjeeling]―!”

In front of the Golden Street gate, a flash of white light burst forth.

And many of <Ratatosk>'s followers vanished within it.

Thus, as we adapted to fighting together, we made our way deeper into the Golden Street.

＊

They were coming.

Those gathering toward this battlefield.

[Crimson Trajectory]… and [Azure White Thunderbolt].

The timing for him to step in was approaching.

“Disappear into the conflict, all of you…!”

A man in a green robe, [Priest of Conflict], muttered while touching the runes in his hand, returning to his true form.