"Shun, It's been a while," Sakuya greeted as she turned to face me.
"It's been a while indeed," I replied, my tone tense.
Sakuya smiled and gestured for me to follow her. "Follow me."
I nodded and followed her lead, my mind focused on her movements.
She's not gonna attack me?
She led me to an open rooftop, where a clock tower stood, its steady ticking marking the time as 9:00 P.M.
Sakuya turned to me, her eyes glinting with curiosity. "By the way... What's with your hair and eyes? You're glowing crimson, you know?"
I ignored her question, my impatience growing. "More importantly... Where is Lady Remilia?"
Sakuya's smile remained as she continued, "Hm? Dodging a question, are we? How about we talk for a moment?"
I shook my head firmly. "No, I'm sorry, Sakuya, but I have no time for chit-chat."
She patted my shoulder from behind, and her voice whispered softly into my ear. "Are you sure? I mean... You're quite tired yourself... Covered with blood, bruises... you probably have broken bones right now."
She just stopped time.
Startled, I turned around, but Sakuya had vanished like a phantom.
"Well," her voice echoed around me, "I guess you just want to confront Lady Remilia immediately, and that is understandable."
I looked around, my nerves on edge, and saw Sakuya casually playing with a knife.
Sakuya's demeanor shifted from playful to serious.
"As a maid," she declared, "I shall protect my mistress from an intruder... like you."
With fluid grace, she assumed a stance, her knives gleaming wickedly in the moonlight.
"I'm not... an intruder, I'm the butler of the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"
The moon watched silently overhead, casting our ground in a haunting glow.
We started clashing with each other, With each clash, the rooftop seemed to vibrate with our intensity.
Our movements were a dance of precision and grace.
I charged forward, and Sakuya responded by hurling knives my way. I deflected, blocked, and parried with all my might.
In return, I launched a flurry of strikes, but Sakuya was an enigma of speed and evasion.
She backflipped, sidestepped, and even froze time to outmaneuver me, always maintaining a calculated distance
We clashed again and again, the sound of our blades ringing through the night.
To my astonishment, Sakuya threw knives that multiplied mid-air, creating a barrage that rained down upon me. I deftly deflected the knives with my blades. However, what happened next was truly unexpected.
"Eh?! What?!"
This duplicate Sakuya immediately launched her attack with a fresh wave of knives, while the original continued to throw blades from a distance.
I had to dodge and block with all my might to fend off the relentless assault.
(Blood Sign: Tendril Chains) crimson chains materialized and managed to capture the duplicate Sakuya and remove her from the equation.
"Are you tired?"
"No... Not yet."
"Well, That's great because I have yet not shown you my full potential as a maid."
("The World"!!)
Suddenly, time stopped, and a surreal silence filled the air. The world froze, and the ticking of a clock became eerily prominent.
Sakuya began throwing knives all around me, creating a menacing circle of blades.
It was a formidable and, frankly, quite an unfair spellcard.
"It was a good fight Shun... but give up and leave."
Leave? Me? After coming this far? your telling me to leave?
...What a load of bullshit.
(Time Sign: Temporal Paradox)
An immense burst of agility, essentially fast-forwarding my existence. As time resumed its normal flow, the knives that had been hurtling toward me were now moving at a snail's pace, as if I could effortlessly dance through the slow-motion storm of blades.
Sakuya herself seemed sluggish compared to my speed. With a precise and swift movement, I slashed through the incoming knives, redirecting their path away from me.
Closing the gap between us, I delivered a decisive strike that left Sakuya on the ground, her body covered in cuts.
"What just happened..."
I didn't reply with words. Instead, I walked up to her and embraced her, "I... I'm sorry."
"...What are you apologizing for? We're the ones who should be apologizing."
"I'm sorry."
"Stop that now..." She returned the hug, patting my back gently.
"I'll be back," I said.
Sakuya nodded and smiled, "She's not here... but she's in the garden."
"Thank you."
"Good luck."
I glanced at her one last time before breaking the embrace and rushing back to the hallway.
Re-claim what is yours, Shun.