A week later, on the footbridge, a soft ribbon of sun poured through, sketching two silhouettes in warm gold.

Clang-clang-clang of steel braided the air; strangers brushed past like drifting leaves; sparks leapt from colliding blades; resolve flashed like a hawk’s eye.

Mizuki twisted her waist; her weapon spun with her motion, a crescent in flight. The woman before her stayed impassive and caught the strike on her sword. A keen gust scythed by, trimming a few stray hairs.

Her gaze sharpened; Mizuki drove her knife straight toward that tiny opening, a swallow stabbing for the gap.

Just as triumph rose, the other woman lifted her blade, smothered the thrust, then cut in with a ruthless kick, booting her airborne again like a snapped kite.

“You’ve improved a lot today. It’s your first proper counter against me. Before, all you could do was take the hits.”

Andrea slid her rapier back into its sheath and spoke lightly to Mizuki, who lay sprawled on the ground like a fallen leaf.

A week of devil training had ground Mizuki down, but it carved gains into bone and breath.

At least now, Mizuki could counter once without leaning on Elana. That was sweat turned into steel.

“But this level still isn’t enough…”

“We’ll stop here for today. Continue tomorrow.”

Andrea’s tone stayed even, a cool stream over stone.

“But I…”

“You need a buffer. Push without rest and gains flatten. What you need is time.”

“Miss Andrea…”

“Go rest with your friends today. I’m heading out.”

Andrea left with effortless grace, wind in her coat. Mizuki stayed dazed on the ground until Elana, who’d been sunning silent on the side, finally spoke:

“This isn’t bad, y’know. Take a breather, Mizuki.”

“Is that… really okay?”

“Relax, don’t be so stiff. I want to sample London’s delicious charms today.”

“But you don’t have a human form. You can’t eat…”

“Feasting with my eyes still counts!”

The lack of a body vexed Elana too. Until the next seal broke, she had no flesh, and food’s joy stayed across a pane of glass.

London’s scenery flowed like old wine; its buildings wore a medieval hush. Even walking alone, Mizuki found herself pulled by every street’s story.

Soon she reached the rendezvous and met Sham, who welcomed her with that signature smile like a bright pennant in the wind.

“Was training tough?”

“It’s fine.”

“Come on, I’ll take you shopping in London.”

“Sure.”

In a foreign city, two girls walked shoulder to shoulder, their closeness etched into the day’s canvas. That easy harmony pressed deep into memory like a seal in wax.

A fresh breeze swept by, tugging a few blades of grass; sleeves flicked like little banners on a green field; two girls stood opposed on an open patch of earth.

Facing the girl in a black cloak—no mask today, her true face bared—Moa felt pressure settle like a mountain’s shadow.

She sank her hips; lightning coiled at her feet like restless snakes. Arcs crawled across her skin; battle intent lit her serious face like a rising moon.

Her opponent was strong—no one to provoke lightly.

Moa knew. So… strike first.

Boom!

Bolts split the sky and hammered the ground, drumming the earth. Yun Shi watched the thunder with a lake’s calm.

In battle, a stray thought is defeat. Yun Shi knew it; she had trained her mind to stay colder than rain.

She neither scoffed at Moa’s attack nor grew tense. Her face held no ripple, a mirror under night.

“Hah!”

Moa poured out everything. Lightning crashed down; the ground cracked like dry pottery, and from the fissures sprang spears of current.

Whoosh!

The bolts were about to nail Yun Shi, but she vanished into thin air.

Teleportation.

Moa snapped her stance tight, drawing lightning around her like a bright cloak, ready to guard life with light.

Right on cue, Yun Shi reappeared behind her, gun raised, finger squeezing. Moa grinned, spun, and kicked; the weapon flew like a tin bird. She gathered lightning and fired at Yun Shi, a storm from her hands.

Yun Shi didn’t lose her cool. She slid back and let the strike hiss past like rain she’d already read.

Hum.

Blue-violet lances flashed. With a Light Blade in hand, Yun Shi swept in, her swordwork a rippling tide. Moa refused to yield; she forged a lightning sword and met her head-on, two storms colliding.

Boom! Boom!

The earth split into jagged wounds; sparks scattered like fiery snow. Their blades sang in the air, a shrill duet. Above, clouds crowded like a herd; Moa’s stray bursts made the sky feel like a thunder realm.

Rumble!

Lightning blasted fractures into the plain; rubble jumped and whirled like startled birds.

Yun Shi retreated several steps, eyes cool as frost. Moa seized the opening—feet loaded, lightning layered on skin—and moved at a speed like a thunderbolt. No, she wasn’t moving—she was lightning, arrowing in.

Yun Shi blocked with an elbow, body sliding back. Moa poured more voltage; a long blade coalesced in her grip and came down hard, straight toward Yun Shi’s mark. Without space-jumping, Yun Shi might have paid dearly.

Yun Shi struck back too. She twisted the fabric of space, dragging the oncoming lightning into a silent abyss. Moa felt no surprise; she knew Yun Shi had this reach. She banked energy and flung a volley of currents, arrows streaking toward the girl on the ground.

“So your coverage is… multi-directional.”

Yun Shi dodged while analyzing, calm voice like rain on bamboo. The currents tore through where she’d stood a heartbeat ago; she had slipped away by teleport.

She already had her counterplan.

Boom!

A warped pane of space caught the lightning. Moa smirked, assuming the defense was pointless—only for Yun Shi to blink behind her again. Surprise flickered, then delight.

Moa grabbed Yun Shi’s wrist, grinning. “You lose, Yun Shi-chan.”

Who charges into someone’s back like a gift? Moa thought Yun Shi had just served herself up.

Yun Shi let a small, mocking smile show, and arcs crawled over her too, twin serpents to Moa’s.

Moa jolted. She flooded her aura, currents circling like a furious river. She expected Yun Shi to falter—but nothing.

The other girl stayed untouched, like a stone the river couldn’t wet.

“Current travels by potential difference. Same potential means no effect. Just like you don’t burn yourself. Right now I’m at your potential. So… check.”

Yun Shi offered the explanation, then, under Moa’s widening eyes, hauled her into a brutal over-shoulder throw.

Moa’s last clear image was that cool face hiding a glint of mischief. Then black. Even with the nickname “Thunder Lady,” she couldn’t match the girl famed across the Underworld.

Her reputation might be steeped in shadow, but her strength was daylight stark.

“Ugh—I’m done. Yun Shi-chan, how can you cheat like that? We said we wouldn’t get serious!”

When Moa woke, she whined and rolled on the ground, venting like a sulky cat, dignity nowhere in sight.

“Sorry. Habit. It’s hard to dial down all at once…”

Yun Shi sounded a little vexed too. She hadn’t sparred in years; lowering herself on command was like asking winter to warm.

Honestly, if Moa hadn’t suddenly asked to spar, would it have gone this way?

“Nope, nope. I’m not happy!”

“What do you want, Sawagawa Moa?”

“Mm… buy me cake, and I’ll forgive you!”

“Fine.”

They were good friends; it never soured. A few stray words and laughter mended everything, a privilege only close friends share.

There was still time before the operation against the Church. Yun Shi had been bored and invited Moa to play. Today’s spar was born because neither could find another game. An occasional bout never hurts.

“A week already…”

Yun Shi sat on the ground, murmuring like a low wind.

“Mizuki and Sham have been gone a week now.”

“Yeah…”

“I hope they hurry back. I’m bored to death.”

“Mm.”

“Yun Shi-chan, when your school has its sports meet, I’ll come cheer for you!”

“Mm.”

“Hey, don’t just clam up. At least say something!”

Moa sighed at Yun Shi’s mood but didn’t press. Maybe the girl was lovesick.

Such was Moa’s mischievous thought.

Suddenly, Yun Shi’s phone chimed. The screen showed an international number.

She wondered who—then saw.

“Hello, Miyuki Kiseki…”

“Big crisis, Yun-kun—save me!”

Mizuki’s wail bled through the line. Yun Shi only smiled and held her tongue, like a cat watching rain.

“What is it?”

“Exams are coming and I just realized I didn’t study at all!”

“…”

“Please, tutor me. Otherwise I’m going to bomb them!”

“…All right.”

Really, she couldn’t say no to that girl.

Staying abroad instead of coming back to class—of course grades would sag.

Well, at least she’d get to see that idiot.

Not that she was happy about it. Definitely not.

Yun Shi told herself that very seriously, never noticing Moa’s amused look.