. . .
Hana suddenly stops her hand when her long knife is only 2cm away from cutting Kasumi’s entire right hand.
“. . .”
Neither Hana nor Kasumi said anything. They did not even move from their spots.
“What’s the meaning of this, Kasumi-san? Why aren’t you trying to defend yourself??”
“. . .”
Kasumi did not utter a single word.
“You’re going to lose your other hand because of me! Why aren’t you moving away? I was swinging my hand slower than usual to give you time to react! Why didn’t you move??”
“. . .”
Kasumi did not reply. She is currently fighting a different battle inside her own head. Hana lowers her right hand and discards her long knife back into the normal survival knife.
“Oh, I get it. YOU’RE TRYING TO PLAY THE BLAME GAME, RIGHT??”
*?*
That sentence brought Kasumi back into reality. She is really confused by Hana’s words.
“YOU’RE GOING TO SNITCH INTO KAITO-SENPAI, SAYING I CUT YOUR HANDS FOR NO REASON TO MAKE ME LOOK BAD IN FRONT OF HIM, IS THAT RIGHT YOU BITCH?”
“. . .”
“(What is she. . .talking about?)”
“If that’s the case. . . IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEN CHANGE OF PLAN!! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH AND I’LL TELL THAT RED-HAIRED GUY AND KAITO-SENPAI THAT YOU WERE MURDERED INSIDE THIS INFINITE MAZE BY THE HANDS OF THE GAME MASTER!!”
*Thud thud thud thud*
*!!*
Suddenly, Luna runs as hard as she can from the same door that the two of them came through to this room.
*GRABS*
She lunges forward and grabs Hana from behind and hangs on her back.
“Hana-san! Please stop this! What are you doing to Kasumi-san? Please return to your normal self!!”
“AH! THE BRAT!! WHAT TIMING!! I KNEW YOU WERE WITH HER THE WHOLE TIME! YOU POSE SO LITTLE THREAT TO ME THAT I DIDN’T EVEN DETECT YOUR PRESENCE!! GUESS I’M GOING TO KILL YOU FIRST THEN!!”
“HANA-SAN!! LOOK AT MY EYES AND TELL ME YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID!!”
*!*
Luna grabs Hana’s head from behind and forces her to turn her head towards her to gaze directly into her eyes.
. . .
But then, after only two seconds staring into each other’s eyes, Luna activates her Faith power, and her eyes change.
. . . . .
*Thud*
Luna hops off Hana’s back and lands on the floor. Hana has been stunned by Luna’s Faith power.
“KASUMI-SAN!!”
Luna approaches Kasumi, who’s on her knees on the floor in front of Hana.
“Are you okay, Kasumi-san?”
Luna also crouches to check on Kasumi.
“Luna-dono. . . I apologize. I was wrong. It's really better to just kill the murderers and get people out of here as fast as we can. What was I thinking? 24,000 innocent lives compared to two murderers' lives. I feel ashamed.”
“Kasumi-san! Snap out of it right now! That is not important! We need to get Hana-san back to normal! Somehow!”
“It is pretty important, Luna-dono. People’s lives are at stake. A lot of people are going to die because of my ridiculous ideals. I should be the one dying first before anyone else.”
“Huh? How is that going to solve anything? As someone who’s been running away for most of my life, that’s just the easy way out! Running away doesn’t solve anything!”
“. . .”
“Someday, I’ll gather the courage to face my past! That’s why we have to get out of here first! I had a deal with Quroe-san, and I can’t fulfil it if I’m stuck here!”
“. . .”
“KASUMI-SAN!!”
Luna grabs both of Kasumi’s shoulders and shakes her whole body to snap her out.
“IT’S NOT WRONG FOR NOT WANTING TO KILL, KASUMI-SAN!!”
*!*
“IT'S NOT WRONG TO THINK OF THE RIGHT THING!! WHAT YOU ARE SUGGESTING IS NOT WRONG!! AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE FAULT AND BLAME ALL LIE TO THE PEOPLE WHO STARTED THIS KILLING GAME IN THE FIRST PLACE!! THE GAME MASTERS AND HIS OFFICERS!!”
“. . .”
The light in Kasumi’s eyes began to shine a little.
“YOU ARE NOT WRONG, KASUMI-SAN!! YOU WERE JUST TRYING TO BE YOURSELF AMIDST THIS CHAOS WHERE PEOPLE THROW AWAY THEIR HUMANITY FOR THE SAKE OF SURVIVAL!! YOU ARE STRONG KASUMI-SAN!! THAT’S WHY YOU TRIED TO STICK TO YOUR VALUES NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED EVEN AFTER YOU LOST YOUR HAND!!”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Right after Luna’s encouragement, Kasumi finally came back in full force to reality.
“Luna-dono.”
*!!!*
But when Kasumi finally sees Luna before her eyes, fully conscious this time, Hana had already recovered herself from Luna’s Faith power somehow. She is standing behind Luna, already swinging her left hand at the left side of Luna’s head.
*BAM*
*Thud thud*
Hana bashes Luna in the head and sends her flying towards the sky wall of the room. Her body falls to the floor, and she doesn’t move anymore.
“LUNA-DONOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
*pant pant pant*
Hana is somehow out of breath.
“WHAT A FUCKING BRAT!! SHE MADE ME EXPERIENCE MY HORRIBLE PAST AGAIN!! HOW A LOATHSOME FAITH POWER TO HAVE AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE!! FUCKING DAMMIT!”
*pant pant pant*
“Hana-san. I think you’re getting out of line.”
*ZRAAASSSHHHH*
*!!*
Kasumi suddenly stands up and slashes Hana diagonally from below across her front torso. Hana’s reaction was slow due to her heavy breathing.
“URGGHH!!”
*BWOOOSSHH*
Hana immediately jumps back away from Kasumi and lands 5 meters away on the floor. She touches the wound on her torso and checks the blood on her palm.
“Tch! Shallow, but it hurts.”
“Change of plan.”
*!*
Kasumi enters her battle stance. Her facial expression is very serious without any hesitation now.
“I am going to knock you out and force you to go along with my plan! You’ve hurt, Luna-dono, and I am going to hurt you a little bit in the process.”
Kasumi points her katana at Hana.
“Prepare yourself!”
*!*
*Sssssssshhhhhhhh*
The wound across Hana’s torso is suddenly smoking in black. Slowly and surely, the wound is closing and healing by itself. Her shirt, which was torn, was also fixed by the smoke.
“(S-She can heal herself? And even her clothes? What on earth is her Faith power?)”
Hana opens both of her arms wide and smiles wickedly.
“BRING IT!!”
The aura engulfing her entire body becomes even blacker and darker. Black feathers also float occasionally throughout.
*BWOOOSSHHH*
*BWOOOOSSHHH*
Kasumi and Hana jump forward towards one another. Kasumi swings her katana, and Hana swings her survival knife forward.
*CTANG*
Their weapons clash, and they're pushing against one another in a power struggle.
“HOOOOO!! YOU’RE A LOT STRONGER RIGHT NOW!! WHAT HAPPENED?”
“I simply lost my resolve, and Luna-dono brought it back. But you’ve hurt Luna-dono, and I’ll make you pay for that!!”
“I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!” said Hana, confidently smiling.
*ZZZRRRRTTTT*
*!*
Kasumi activates her Faith power, and her katana is engulfed by purple lightning.
*ZRRRTT*
“AKH!!”
*THUD*
Hana was zapped by the lightning and dropped her knife in reflex.
“Kasumi style!”
*!!*
“POWER CLEAVE!!”
*BWOOOSSHHH*
Kasumi swings her katana down vertically right at Hana, but she reacted faster and jumped away from her.
“YOU’RE REALLY TRYING TO KILL ME, HUH? YOU’RE FIGHTING SO THAT I DIDN’T KILL A MURDERER, BUT NOW YOU JUST STRAIGHT UP WANTED TO KILL ME? WHAT A HYPOCRITE ARE YOU, KASUMI-SAAAANNN!!!”
“I simply wanted to harm you, not kill you. But you can heal your wounds anyway, so I don’t have to hold myself back.”
“JUST BECAUSE I CAN HEAL MYSELF, IT’S OKAY TO HARM ME? IS THAT RIGHT, KASUMI-SAN?!”
“Hana-san, I may not have known you for long. We just met today after all. We only talked a bit for about 5 minutes at max back at the clothing store, but even I can tell that this isn’t you.”
*?*
“HUH? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?”
“I guess saying it’s not the real you at all is a little bit false. Let me rephrase it. You are currently influenced by something, aren’t you? Something that you don’t really know its identity. No matter how much I think of it, I never sensed ‘you’ since we met in this infinite maze.”
“BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA!! SAYING A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING!!”
“I didn’t recognize you when we first met because of the extreme uneasiness that I felt from you this whole time. I never felt that way when I talked to you back at the clothing store.”
Kasumi enters her battle stance once again.
“Who are you?” said Kasumi in a serious tone with a little hint of killing intent.
“MY NAME IS SAKURAI HANA!! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO SAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!”
*BWOOOSSHHH*
They both once again lunged forward at each other.
*DAHK*
Kasumi swings her katana down, but Hana stops her swing by blocking her hand at the wrist with her left hand.
*DAHK*
Hana swings her left punch at Kasumi’s stomach, but she raises her right knee to block the punch. Kasumi lets go of her katana and lets its blade drop towards Hana. Hana moved her body to the left, and the katana fell freely to the floor, but she was immediately pulled in towards Kasumi. Kasumi grabs Hana on her left hand and pulls her towards herself.
*DAHK*
Kasumi swings her left knee at Hana’s stomach, but she blocks it with her left forearm. Hana breaks her left hand free of Kasumi’s handhold. She swings a punch towards the side of her head.
*WUUSSHH*
*!*
Kasumi quickly ducks down towards the floor. She resummons her katana in her right hand.
*ZRAAASSSSHH*
“UURRGGHH!!!”
Kasumi cut Hana’s left ankle, but the wound was shallow as she reacted and jumped away from her spot.
*!*
While Hana was still in the air, Kasumi threw her katana at her chest.
*GRABS*
Hana spins herself and puts her head upside down, and grabs Kasumi’s katana by the handle.
*ZZZRRRTTTTT*
“AKH!!”
Hana immediately gets electrocuted as soon as she touches the handle. She drops the katana to the floor.
*!*
When Hana is still resisting the pain from the zap, Kasumi jumps into her elevation in the air.
*BAM*
“UUURRGGHHH!!”
Kasumi finally lands a solid hit on Hana, right at her stomach.
*THUMP THUMP*
Hana was sent flying downwards and her back hits the floor, but she immediately recovers and stands up.
*!*
As soon as she stood up, Kasumi was already in front of her again, holding her katana above her head.
“Kasumi style.”
Hana had a facial expression showing great disbelief. She could not accept the reality where Kasumi had the upper hand against her.
“THUNDEROUS POWER CLEAVE!!”
*ZRRRAAASSSSSSHHHHHH*
*ZZZRRRRTTTTTTT*
“UUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
Hana was cut once again vertically across her torso. Though the wound was shallow, this time, Kasumi imbued her purple electricity in her katana, greatly multiplying the pain in her torso.
*THUD THUD*
Hana falls to her knees and falls face-first to the floor.
“. . .”
“(Something feels off. . .)”
Even after landing a solid hit, Kasumi’s face is showing an expression of great distress. There is something wrong about what just happened.
“(I did hold back so I didn’t kill her, but given how sharp my katana is, and how indestructible the Armaments of Armament type Faith powers are, the wound felt too shallow through the feedback on my hand. . .)”
*FLAPS*
*?!*
*BAAAAAMMMM*
“OOHHHOOOORRRRKKKHHHH!!!”
Suddenly, a pair of pitch black wings grows from Hana’s back. Her right wing flaps Kasumi on the stomach and sends her flying towards the sky wall, south of the room.
*DAHK*
“URGH!!”
*THUMP*
Kasumi’s body falls to the floor and lands face-first.
“OHORGH!! OHOGH!!”
Kasumi starts coughing blood while lying on the floor.
“(What happened. . .?)”
Her consciousness is fading slightly, and she’s trying her best just to avoid passing out. She lifts her head up to see what happened to Hana.
*!*
Hana has fully stood up. The slash wound across her body has entirely healed. Her appearance also changes slightly. Her two forearms are now entirely pitch black. She has a pair of pitch black wings growing out of her back, with each wing having a wingspan of 5 meters.
*!*
Even when she’s lying on the floor, Kasumi feels great disturbance and uneasiness coming from those pitch black wings.
“(It’s the same feeling as previously, only a lot more intense now!)”
The face area around her eyes became entirely pitch black, leaving only her nose and everything else down below unaffected. The sclera of both of her eyes also turned pitch black.
“KASUMI-SAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNN!!!” shouts Hana.
“IT’S TIME FOR ROUND TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
She shouts, and her wings on her back spread out wide to the side as a signal of excitement.
