The shadows recoiled.

  Not vanished—but broken.

  Yurei staggered backward, its form unraveling in ragged strands of darkness as if the night itself was rejecting it. The street around them trembled, cracks spreading across stone, lanterns swaying violently.

  Akitsu Shouga stood with Joyeuse lowered, breathing hard, blood streaking down the side of his face. The blade still hummed faintly, light flickering like dying embers along its edge.

  Rhen Calder stood a few steps ahead of him, fists clenched, shoulders heaving. His body phased in and out unevenly now—not by choice, but from exhaustion.

  “…It’s retreating,” Rhen said through clenched teeth.

  Yurei’s head snapped up.

  “You mistake survival for victory,” it rasped.

  Its shadowy mass compressed inward, collapsing like smoke pulled into a vacuum.

  Akitsu narrowed his eyes. “Rhen—don’t chase.”

  “I wasn’t planning to,” Rhen replied. “I can barely feel my arms.”

  Yurei let out one final, distorted sound—something between a laugh and a scream—and then dissolved into a stream of darkness that slithered across the rooftops and vanished into the night.

  Silence followed.

  Not peaceful.

  Just empty.

  Akitsu exhaled slowly and lowered himself to one knee.

  “…Still alive,” he muttered.

  Rhen let out a shaky breath and finally allowed himself to drop to the ground, sitting heavily against a broken wall.

  “By all rights,” Rhen said, staring at his hands, “we shouldn’t be.”

  Akitsu smirked faintly. “You’re welcome.”

  Rhen looked over. “You didn’t do this alone.”

  Akitsu didn’t respond right away. He stared down the street—the cracked stone, the scattered debris, the lingering sense of something wrong.

  Then—

  Fwoom.

  A sharp, resonant hum cut through the air.

  Akitsu’s instincts screamed.

  “Rhen—DOWN!”

  A glowing arrow of condensed mana streaked past where Akitsu’s head had been a second earlier and detonated against the stone behind him—

  BOOM.

  The explosion wasn’t fire.

  It was sound.

  A concussive wave slammed into both of them, throwing Akitsu across the street and skidding Rhen several meters back.

  Akitsu rolled, barely managing to come up on one knee, Joyeuse snapping up defensively.

  “Who—?!” Rhen started.

  A calm, cold voice answered from above.

  “Akitsu Shouga.”

  Both men looked up.

  On the rooftop of a three-story building stood a woman clad in the silver-and-blue armor of Crestfall’s Royal Knights. Her long ash-blonde hair was tied back neatly, her posture perfect, bow of glowing mana already drawn.

  Her eyes were sharp.

  Unforgiving.

  “By order of the Crestfall High Council,” she continued, voice carrying effortlessly through the night, “you are to be detained immediately.”

  Akitsu clicked his tongue. “…Of course.”

  Rhen stood quickly despite the pain. “Captain Selene Vael!”

  Selene’s gaze flicked briefly to him. “Rhen Calder. Fiester’s envoy.”

  Then her eyes returned to Akitsu.

  “And a wanted criminal,” she said. “Bounty: five hundred gold coins. Alive or dead.”

  Akitsu sighed and rubbed his temple. “You know, I was having a long night already.”

  Rhen stepped in front of him without hesitation.

  “He’s my personal assistant,” Rhen said firmly. “And my friend.”

  Selene’s bow glowed brighter.

  “Harboring a wanted criminal,” she said calmly, “is a crime under both Fiester and Crestfall law.”

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  Rhen clenched his fists. “He just saved your city.”

  “That does not erase his record,” Selene replied.

  Akitsu tilted his head. “You didn’t even see the fight.”

  “I heard it,” Selene said. “And I saw enough.”

  The bowstring thrummed.

  Akitsu’s eyes widened. “Rhen—!”

  Selene released.

  The arrow split into three mid-flight, each one humming with a different pitch.

  A song filled the air.

  Soft.

  Clear.

  Deadly.

  “Hush now, steel and bone,

  Sleep beneath the falling tone,

  Let the rhythm bind your breath,

  A gentle note—then silence, death.”

  The arrows struck—

  One detonated in front of Rhen, unleashing a massive knockback wave that sent him flying.

  The second pierced the ground beside Akitsu, releasing a sonic pulse that locked his muscles in place, vibrating through his bones.

  The third—

  Akitsu barely raised Joyeuse in time.

  CLANG.

  Light and sound collided violently.

  Akitsu was thrown backward, crashing through a wooden stall and rolling across the ground.

  Selene landed gracefully from the rooftop, boots touching stone without a sound.

  “Stand down,” she ordered. “Both of you.”

  Rhen struggled to his feet, phasing instinctively as another arrow formed in Selene’s hand.

  “Selene!” he shouted. “Enough!”

  She didn’t hesitate.

  Another arrow formed—this one vibrating so intensely the air around it warped.

  Rhen phased through the first half of its trajectory—

  —but the sound followed.

  He cried out as the sonic wave tore through him, forcing him to solidify mid-step and slam into the wall behind him.

  Akitsu pushed himself up, blood dripping from his mouth.

  “…Arrow of Songs,” he muttered. “Elegant. Annoying.”

  Selene turned her bow toward him again.

  “Do not move.”

  Akitsu straightened slowly.

  “Before you shoot again,” he said calmly, “ask yourself why the bodies stopped appearing tonight.”

  Selene hesitated.

  Just for a fraction of a second.

  Rhen seized it.

  “Because he was the one fighting the killer!” Rhen shouted. “Because Akitsu Shouga nearly died stopping it!”

  Selene’s jaw tightened. “Criminals can still kill criminals.”

  Akitsu let out a tired laugh. “Fair.”

  He met her gaze directly.

  “But if I were your enemy,” he continued, “you’d already be dead.”

  The air grew tense.

  Selene’s arrow wavered.

  “…Explain,” she said quietly.

  Rhen stepped forward, ignoring the pain.

  “He’s not a murderer,” Rhen said. “He’s a weapon pointed at worse things.”

  Selene looked between them, conflict flickering in her eyes.

  Slowly—

  She lowered her bow.

  “…This does not absolve you,” she said to Akitsu. “Your bounty still stands.”

  Akitsu nodded. “I figured.”

  Selene exhaled. “But tonight… I saw no malice in your actions.”

  She turned away slightly.

  “I will report that the suspect fled,” she said. “Nothing more.”

  Rhen blinked. “You’re letting us go?”

  “For now,” Selene replied. “Do not make me regret it.”

  Akitsu smiled faintly. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Selene stepped back, her form dissolving into mana as she vanished into the night.

  Silence returned once more.

  Rhen collapsed to a sitting position with a groan. “Next time... Don't do that again. "

  Akitsu chuckled weakly and sat beside him.

  “…Next time,” he said, staring up at the dark sky, “I’ll try to die less.”

  Somewhere far away—

  Yurei watched.

  And waited.