"Stairway Guardian!"

D pointed his index finger at Lian. Her heart jolted; she sprang aside. The spot she'd stood on caved, a pit blooming like a black flower.

Damn it. Fighting an unseen Stand was grit in her eyes. Dodging on guesses didn’t fit a Sun Knight who fought headlong like a charging stallion.

Bang!

She slipped past the next strike on her “loli sense”—pure gut. She couldn’t see it, but she could still read its wind-shadow.

"New Year Salute Sword Art!"

She kicked off hard, soared high. The Darkness Sword rose overhead, then scythed down. Air tore; the blade slammed the floor.

Thud!

Centered on the Darkness Sword, a wide crater opened like a moonmark. Not a good sign. It screamed one thing: she’d missed.

She yanked the skewered Darkness Sword free and cut her eyes to D. If she couldn’t hit the Stand, the Stand user would bleed just the same.

She coiled power on her toes and pivoted, squaring her chest to D.

D watched every twitch, cool as rain. He’d prepped for a sudden charge from the start. He slashed a hand—space peeled. A staircase unfolded behind him.

He means to run. Irritation spiked like ice; Lian sped up. Ten meters—usually less than a breath—stretched here like a cold river.

No. Her gut rang a bell. It wasn’t distance. D’s Stand was everywhere, weaving a mirage that made far feel near.

So what if it’s more than ten? To her, that span was still a single breath of heat.

She tapped a little magic. Speed surged; the gap shrank. D’s lazy backstep into the stairs—like strolling through drizzle—needled her pride.

Two breaths later she reached him. D had already sunk into the stair-space, but the portal still yawned. Fine. Smash the space, end the chase.

She turned nature mana into space mana and poured it into the Darkness Sword. She raised it high and leapt like a falling star.

"Righteous Leaping Chop!"

A secret killer move from a certain unnamed Master Ju. Lian’s blade crashed into the stair-space like thunder on stone.

Two alien space-aspects collided, acid meeting alkali. The reaction roared and flashed like stormfire.

Eddies of warped space spat from the impact, streaking at them both like knives. As if her flesh would wilt to that? Lian tanked it head-on.

As for D... he calmly opened another pocket beside him and slipped inside. Space within space—Matryoshka rules? What a joke.

Since he’d fled, Lian let the strike go. With one side gone, the locked spaces had only one end—collapse like a dying wave.

She scanned the still air of the space. D’s Stand could strike from every direction, like teeth in fog. Why not ambush her from the start?

Too late now. Once noticed, that trick was ash on the wind.

Tap... tap... tap. Slow footfalls behind. Her chest tightened; she wheeled. D stepped from a space twin to before, disdain still lacquered on his face.

Clap, clap, clap. D applauded as he walked. “Fine, some praise. In under two exchanges you found this space’s secret. Smart. But so what? Can you see my attack?”

Thud!

A blow landed between her shoulders. He’d pulled it; she didn’t go flying. Just a heavy thump of knuckles, iron humming through bone.

“What are you playing at?”

Heat rose behind her eyes like sunrise. Holding back in a fight was contempt. She hated it like sand in teeth.

If she weren’t testing the sword, she’d have dropped a big spell and erased this place already. Aer had warned these people were dangerous, worthy of respect.

Yet aside from that one strange stab of fear earlier, Lian hadn’t felt threatened at all, not even a shadow of it.

She’d decided. If he couldn’t explain, she’d end it and show him what power meant, clean as lightning.

D didn’t rush to speak. He produced two chairs from who-knew-where, set one before Lian, and sat, casual as a cat.

“We... need to talk.”

Lian took the chair and sat too, unruffled. An ambush wouldn’t scare her; she could cut him down the moment he moved.

Worst case, one of them wouldn’t walk away. That was all a warrior’s coin toss.

D had no idea what she was thinking. Seeing her sit, he nodded once.

“Then... let me ask. Aren’t you curious how I got here?”

“Mm... actually, yeah. Kinda curious.”

After all, if he came from the World Side, that would explain how he lasted this long. The world-blessed weren’t like that God-King Ling thrashed.

To World-Siders, a god-king was a junior at best, a candle before noon.

D smiled, like he’d expected that answer.

“Truth is, I—no, me and two others—were summoned here by the one at your side. By Aer.”