A first IV

Damn it, damn it, damn it! I got careless—and lost the lightning weapon. And she can summon those barriers too? Is it the armor? I thought the other guy was the leader... but this girl—she's way more dangerous.

Kaji's mind is more alert than ever, which is as much of an advantage as it is a burden. Among these filthy invaders who kill without hesitation, this girl is her own breed of crazy.

Her calm voice and choice of words already creeped him out—but her expression is worse. She shows almost no emotion, even after narrowly escaping death. Her blank, dark eyes stare at him like night itself, a scar slashing across her lips and deepening the eeriness of her face. The alien armor is just the final touch on her already inhuman appearance.

"Wait a second," she says, "that's another cane. Where did you get it?" The question sparks an idea. Let's try provoking her—see if I can rattle that stoic mask.

"I stole it from your friend the geezer, after I murdered him." Her eyes widen, just slightly. Then she blinks... and carries on like nothing happened.

"I see. So Mr. Hige died. That's an unfortunate casualty."

"Your companion is dead and that's your reaction? What's wrong with you? Are you actually insane?"

"Stop calling me insane!" That's what triggers her?

The more he talks to her, the less he understands this 'girl'—if you can even call her that. Deciding there's no point in further conversation, he levels the weapon at her, signaling the start of the battle.

As Kaji fires, she dodges, her fire-spewing boots propelling her just like the other guy. When she aims her weapon back at him, Kaji shoves the clay table sideways, using it as cover from the electricity.

However, the table suddenly shatters into pieces, and Kaji takes a few minor cuts. As he scrambles to his feet, the enemy aims at him again. He barely dodges the projectile with a quick roll. What he thought was a lightning weapon is now firing earth.

So these things can switch the elements they use, or at least the bigger ones can. Without taking his eyes off the enemy, Kaji fumbles with the various contraptions on his weapon. Suddenly, a translucent blue wall materializes in front of him.

"Oh, you figured out how to use barriers."

He uses the brief moment to catch his breath. He knows the walls don't last long and have a delay before they can be deployed again—that's how he managed to beat the other guy.

Once again, she demonstrates her monstrous skill, timing a projectile that strikes him the moment the barrier fades, piercing his shoulder.

"Surrender in two seconds or I shoot. One… " She doesn't intend to let him recover his barrier. But he won't surrender either. He aims his weapon at her once more, and, whether by luck or desperation, he figures out how to switch to thunder just before firing.

As expected, a barrier forms in front of the girl, but Kaji presses the button repeatedly, determined to strike the moment it fades.

"You can't do that," she says like she's lecturing a child. One second before the girl's barrier disappears, Kaji's weapon stops shooting. "You overcharged the gem, it's probably broken now."

"Fuck!" He grabs a piece of rubble and hurls it, but she doesn't even flinch.

"You gave a great fight for someone inexperienced with magic weapons. You should be proud."

"Shut up and be done with it." He lowers his head, refusing to look at her emotionless face anymore.

"May I get your name first?" He clicks his tongue.

"Kaji. Kaji Asutoro."

"I'm Hoshina Kanchou. It was an honor to fight you, Kaji. Goodbye." He closes his eyes and waits…

…

…and waits…

But nothing happens. Did he die without feeling anything? He opens his eyes and sees he's still in the same nightmarish place.

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

This is strange. Why is my body disobeying again? Hoshina keeps trying to press the trigger, yet her fingers won't move. Or rather, they do—but not the way she wants. They're shaking. More and more. It spreads to her hands, making it difficult to hold the cane steady. At some point, Kaji lifts his head, and when their eyes meet, he looks shocked. What does that look mean? And why is he getting blurry? Wait, what?

Hoshina touches her cheek and realizes it's wet. Is this… are these tears?

Why is she crying? A warrior doesn't cry, and Hoshina hasn't shed a single tear for as long as she can remember—not even when Grandpa died. Is it because this is the first time she's going to kill someone? That doesn't make sense. She finally found a true warrior and defeated him. This is her chance to become one herself. So why can't she do it? Why can't I do it?

The blurriness is now accompanied by a wave of dizziness.

"Stop!" she screams to herself. The tears don't stop. She slaps herself, trying to force her body to obey, to no avail. She attempts to point the cane at Kaji again, but her arm won't respond. She pulls her hair, hits herself harder, screams, rages, cries… yet nothing helps her understand what the hell is happening.

Without thinking—or rather, unable to think anymore—she activates her boots and leaves, desperate to escape whatever is causing this.

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

"What. The. Fuck?"

Kaji doesn't know what to make of this girl anymore.