Insane
"Kaien…" he muttered through clenched teeth. "Guard the entrance. Do not get involved. She… she's more than any of us."
The little dragon glanced up reluctantly, claws dug into the floor.
In the bar, the battle raged on.
Akari spat blood. Her knees trembled, but she forced herself upright.
"I don't need summoning. I am Alcali. I am Akari!" she shouted, lunging forward.
Luna formed a pair of ice claws on her forearms, and they collided in a brutal frenzy of punches, elbows, blocks, and parries. Akari struck with short, lightning‑fast blows—low kicks and precise elbows—but Luna was a tactical monster.
With a single step, Luna slid along an ice trail she'd created on the floor, spun, and reappeared behind Akari. A frozen hook struck straight at Akari's liver.
Akari dropped to her knees, coughing up blood.
"This isn't a fight," said Luna. "It's a lesson."
She kicked Akari's face with her ice‑hardened boot, sending her crashing into the bar, which shattered in splinters.
Akari struggled to rise. Her hands shook, her face was bruised, one leg bled. But her eyes… her eyes burned with defiance.
"I… will not accept… this defeat. Not from you."
Luna stepped closer, conjuring an ice spear in her hands.
"Why do you persist? Don't you see it's useless?"
"Because you remind me of what I could have been…" Akari replied, her gaze unwavering. "And I refuse to become like you."
Luna hesitated for a heartbeat.
Kaien took a step forward, but Akari cried out:
"NO! This pain is mine. This victory… will be mine, too."
She rose unsteadily; blood ran from her nose and chin. Yet she raised her fists again—and smiled.
"Come, Luna. Let's see who truly bears the Alcali legacy with pride."
Moonlight glinted in her eyes. Even beaten, she was indomitable.
Blood, Ice, and Heritage (continued)
Silence fell for a heartbeat.
Akari, kneeling amid the shattered bar, lifted her gaze. Her brown eyes met the broken window. Through it, the golden light of sunset cut through the dusty air, caressing her wounded face.
She smiled—not with scorn or taunt, but with serene remembrance of who she was.
"Thank you… Zyon," she whispered, as if in prayer.
Luna took a step forward, readying her next assault. From her back, five ice daggers materialized, hovering like specters poised to pierce flesh. In her hand, an ice scythe curved cruelly, beautiful in its lethal grace, humming with frigid energy that left a frost mist in its wake.
"Then rise, Akari," Luna murmured. "Let us finish this."
Akari forced herself to her feet. Every muscle ached, blood streamed from deep cuts, but her resolve was unbreakable.
"Alcali Blood Seal… Symbiosis of Exchange."
Luna sprang forward like an arrow. The scythe cut the air, aimed at Akari's flank.
"KSHHH!"
But instead of flesh, the blade bit through a bar stool.
Akari crouched behind a shelf, gasping.
"Exchange number one," she murmured.
Luna's teeth clenched. The ice daggers shot forward—
"SHUNK, SHUNK, SHUNK!"
Three mundane objects replaced Akari's form: a serving tray, a shattered bottle, a wooden stool.
In an instant Akari reappeared just ahead, vaulting beneath the daggers, then with a spinning leap she swapped places with a broken lantern dangling overhead.
She hovered above Luna—and before the ice warrior could react, Akari seized her head and slammed it into the floor with all her might.
"CRAAAAACK!"
The bar floor cracked, forming a small crater at the impact. The ice daggers clattered inert to the ground.
Luna writhed, dazed.
Akari drew in a fierce breath and raised her open hand.
"SHINKÔ TECHNIQUE!" she roared, fury and justice in her voice.
An intense blue energy burst from her palm—living currents, ancient and unbound—writhing over Luna's body like serpents and etching complex, tribal sigils of pacts and prison seals.
"That seal…" Akari growled. "Is MINE!"
With a violent tug, the blue chains snapped, showering sparks and an ethereal roar of unleashed power.
Zyon stirred.
In the back of the bar, a silvery light pulsed like a giant heart. A beam of energy pierced the floorboards, making the ground tremble.
Akari felt him—Zyon was with her again.
Luna scrambled backward, flipping three somersaults with uncanny grace before landing amid the wreckage. She panted, hair loose, eyes wide.
"You shattered the seal… with your bare hands."
She surveyed the ruined bar, the blood on the floor, Akari standing tall.
"And the boy?"
Her gaze flicked to the glowing symbol sealing Yuzuki. It still pulsed, undisturbed.
"He's still trapped…" Luna said quietly, as though plotting her next move. "Fifteen minutes remain. That's all."
She clenched her fist and the ice daggers floated back into position, forming a lethal circle around her.
"Let's see what you can do… with time against you."
Akari assumed her stance. The wind howled through the shattered wall, whipping her blood‑soaked hair.
"Fifteen minutes is more than enough," she said, fierce determination blazing in her eyes.
The cracked floor, the swirling debris, the seal's energy, her bond with Zyon restored—everything converged on that moment.
And Akari…
Would not fall again.
"Blood, Ice, and Heritage
Akari took a deep breath.
The chaos around her seemed to vanish for a moment. The wind carried the last golden rays of dusk, and through the wide-open window, the Golden Tree rose like a sacred monument, its radiant branches reaching toward the sky.
She stared at it, tears welling in her eyes.
"Thank you… Master Yuzuki. For training me. For helping me remember… who I am."
She clenched her fists.
"Luna… I am no longer a frightened creature, cowering in the dark."
The ground beneath her feet began to crack.
"I have Zyon with me."
Akari's eyes glowed with a crystalline blue.
"He was my father. My Kugutsu. My strength… my victory."
Luna took a step back. For the first time… she was afraid.
From Akari's body emanated a spiritual energy so dense and intense that it was visible—a deep blue like a storm-tossed sea, enveloping her in a sacred tempest.
"What the hell is this girl…?" Luna muttered, eyes wide. "How can anyone possess so much power?"
Akari lifted her head, and her shout rolled across the bar like thunder:
"I AM BREAKING FREE! I AM AWAKENING FROM AN ANCIENT NIGHTMARE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN RESOLVED!"
The sky itself trembled.
The air grew thin.
"FEEL THE DESPERATION IN YOUR BONES! ZYON, COME TO ME!"
High above, Kaien watched it all. His eyes shone with reverence.
"What… what energy is this?" he whispered.
His wings unfurled, catching the moonlight, and with a silent leap, he flew out through the window.
He soared high, far away, so as not to interrupt the birth of the true Akari.
On the ground, Yuzuki remained sealed—but for the first time, he smiled.
"Good girl…"
And then everything erupted.
A blue wave swept through the entire bar.
Shards of wood, glass, and stone flew like leaves in a gale. At the center of the whirlwind, Akari hovered, wrapped in a storm of peace and fury. A blue maelstrom spun around her so fiercely that no solid matter could approach.
Luna roared.
She drove her scythe into the ground and spun it in a swift motion, creating a circular barrier of ice. Frost stakes sprouted from the earth, attempting to contain Akari's energy.
She laughed—a nervous laugh, passionate about the battle.
"Time for the show, Akari… This is getting interesting!"
She raised her head and shouted with all her might:
"TO THE DESPERATE, I ONLY ASK FOR CALM! COME TO ME… JADE!"
The ground shook. A cutting, icy explosion swept across the makeshift arena, freezing everything within a one‑kilometer radius. Trees, stones, ruins—everything wrapped in a shining layer of white, merciless ice.
In the center of the battlefield…
Two forces clashed.
On one side, Akari's vivid blue light.
On the other, Luna's deadly frost.
Both raised their hands.
Both summoned their Kugutsus.
ZYON appeared first.
From the eye of the blue storm emerged a tall man, just over two meters. His eyes were crystalline like sapphires, his pale skin marked by ancient runes.
White hair, like freshly fallen snow.
A crow's cloak, hunter's gear, and on his back, a chainsaw‑sword—grotesque, alive, almost pulsating.
The sound it made when activated sent Luna's heart racing.
A mechanical, monstrous roar.
Zyon… was not a beast. He was a man. A warrior. A father.
Luna swallowed hard.
"…My God…"
And then Jade appeared.
In a frigid glow, an ice fairy materialized, floating beside Luna.
Porcelain‑white skin, silver hair flowing like waves in the wind.
Eyes as cold and blue as abysses.
A white dress trimmed with crystals, radiating serenity and danger.
But there was no trace of cruelty in Jade.
She was like winter: silent, beautiful, relentless.
Zyon stepped forward. The earth trembled.
Jade raised her hands. Snowflakes spun through the air like dancing blades.
Akari and Luna, side by side with their Kugutsus.
Force versus control.
Spirit versus domination.
Blue fire against eternal ice.
Zyon walked among the wreckage, his heavy steps marking the ground soaked with blood and snow. His eyes found Akari, fallen, her body covered in deep wounds. She trembled in pain, but when she saw him, her eyes shone with understanding.
"Barãã..." she whispered, her voice hoarse yet steady.
Zyon's energy reacted immediately, as if it had been waiting for that command. A dark-blue aura enveloped them both, and Akari's wounds began to close at a supernatural pace. It was as if Zyon's very blood were merging with hers. They were connected. Body and soul.
Zyon smiled—a wild, nostalgic smile.
"Hm... I've missed this."
The chainsaw in his hands vibrated in response. But it wasn't a simple metallic sound—it was a scream. An infernal roar that cut the air like invisible blades, warping the environment around them. The ground trembled.
Akari looked at him, and he returned her gaze. They both smiled. There were no words. Only a shared war.
"Devil Trigger!" Zyon shouted, and the world seemed to stop.
His body exploded in crimson energy. Veins pulsed like rivers of lava beneath his skin, and the chainsaw roared with even more fury, as if awakened from an ancient nightmare. The energy spread through the air like a living plague.
Luna barely had time to blink.
Zyon was already in front of her.
She widened her eyes—too shocked to react—and the chainsaw was already slicing through her belly, tearing flesh and bone. Blood gushed like a scarlet fountain, staining the ice-covered ground. Luna was thrown backward, her body smashing through three houses before collapsing in the rubble.
The chainsaw spun on its own, pulsating. It drank the enemy's blood with animalistic pleasure, transferring that corrupted energy directly to Akari, who watched from afar.
"Thank you, Zyon..." she said with an ironic smile, "now I'm resistant to ice."
Her laughter cut the silence like a knife.
Luna emerged from the wreckage, staggering, her belly open, blood flowing uncontrollably. She dropped to her knees, but before she lost consciousness, Jade appeared at her side, pale and panting.
"Barãã..." she murmured, and her energy flowed into her mistress, sealing the wounds with a cold light.
Luna gasped, her eyes wide with hatred and confusion.
"What the hell kind of Kugutsu is this...?" she spat. "I've never seen anything like it..."
She turned to Jade, trembling.
"Make it snow. Now."
Jade hesitated. Her gaze flicked between the sky and Luna's desperate expression.
"Are you sure? It's still early..."
"Jade!" Luna shouted, her voice cracking. "If you don't take this seriously... we're going to die!"
Silence. Then Jade nodded, swallowing her fear. She touched Luna's forehead gently, then shot into the sky like a blue arrow of light. Her energy pulsed with unnatural force.
"Secret Technique: Ice Sky."
The world changed.
The weather transformed in seconds. The temperature plummeted. Snow began to fall in torrents, dense as wool, cold as death. The moon above darkened... then shone blue, intense, otherworldly.
Akari swallowed hard, her body already beginning to freeze.
"My God..." she whispered to Zyon. "She's stronger than I imagined... The entire climate... is changing..."
CUT TO: UNDERGROUND — BURIED ALIVE
In the depths of the earth, among rocks and ice, Yuzuki felt an overwhelming presence. Her eyes opened. Her soul trembled.
"What is this energy...?" she whispered, suffocated. "I... lost connection with them..."
But Luna did not know.
She did not know that Yuzuki held a trump card. An ancient secret, stolen from the hands of the gods. He slid his hand inside his torn robes and pulled out a book covered in golden symbols, throbbing like living flames.
When he opened it, a golden light exploded from within, like the first sun after a thousand years of darkness.