The Smell of Confidence

Yuui’s chest heaves with heavy breaths, her body struggling to recover from the previous attack. Her energy suit pulses faintly around her, but she can feel the exhaustion creeping in, threatening to overwhelm her. The air is thick, stifling, as Winter hovers above, his presence like a dark cloud blotting out the sun.

She tries to focus, but her vision blurs, her breathing ragged and strained. The fear, the sheer oppressive weight of Winter’s presence, presses down on her like a vice.

The blood demon's form glows with power, his blood cloud swirling around him, regenerating his body, his armor. It is as if the sky itself bends to his will.

Yuui feels a tremor of terror deep within her. “How can I defeat something so powerful, something that claims to transcend even gods?”

But as her vision wavers, something catches her eye—a flicker in the storm of red and white before her. In the fog of her fear, the contrast between Winter’s crimson blood cloud and the bright purity of her own energy begins to sharpen in her mind.

A strange clarity cuts through the haze of exhaustion, and suddenly, Yuui notices something.

"Wait…"

Her breathing steadies for a moment, her senses honing in on a single detail. The blood cloud above Winter, swirling with ominous power, is… smaller. It isn’t as thick, not as massive as before.

Yuui blinks through the fog of her thoughts, her mind trying to process what she is seeing. "His blood cloud is shrinking," she realizes, her heart skipping a beat. The swirling mass of blood is no longer as expansive as when the battle had first begun.

She glances down, her eyes focusing on the ground beneath her feet. Blood pools in dark, thick puddles across the battlefield, the remains of her fallen comrades, their essence still tied to Winter’s power. But something is wrong.

The blood… it isn’t moving.

"He’s not collecting it," she thinks, a flicker of hope stirring within her.

The blood that coats the ground, the blood that has fueled Winter’s monstrous power, lies still and untouched. For the first time since the battle began, it isn’t rising to his command. It isn’t swirling into the blood cloud, nor is it feeding into his body.

Yuui’s mind races as the pieces start to fall into place.

"He can’t control the blood on the ground and the blood in his suit at the same time," she thinks, her eyes narrowing as the realization sharpens her focus.

The truth hits her like a bolt of lightning. "He can’t defend and attack at the same time!"

Her heart pounds in her chest, adrenaline surging through her veins.

That’s it.

Winter’s monstrous power, his terrifying presence—it isn’t limitless. His control is stretched. While he can manipulate the blood cloud above him to regenerate, and use his blood armor to defend himself, he can’t do everything at once.

He is vulnerable.

Yuui’s hands clench into fists, the energy crackling around her, responding to the surge of hope rising within her. If he can’t defend and attack at the same time, then there is an opening—a moment where he will have to choose, and that will be her chance.

Her fear begins to melt away, replaced by a sharp, focused determination.

This isn’t over. Not yet.

Yuui straightens, her energy suit glowing brighter as she readies herself. Winter hovers above, his blood demon form still imposing, but now, she can see the cracks in his power. The blood on the ground isn’t his to command. He is leaving it behind, choosing his armor over the blood cloud.

And that means one thing—he can be defeated.

Yuui’s energy crackles through the air as she raises her hands, gathering the life force into both palms. Her body glows with the brilliance of pure, untarnished energy, the same light that fueled her transformation moments ago. Now, it pulses through her like a current, swirling and collecting into two orbs—one in each hand.

The orbs grow brighter, spinning faster as Yuui feeds them her resolve, her determination. Her heart pounds in her chest, the weight of her realization still fresh in her mind: "He can’t defend and attack at the same time."

This is her chance.

Winter, still hovering in the air above, watches her coldly. His crimson eyes narrow, studying her movements. Despite the damage he has taken, his presence is still terrifying, his blood armor gleaming ominously. But something has changed. There is a flicker of something different in his gaze—curiosity.

“The smell of confidence…” Winter’s voice rumbles, low and dark. His lips curl into a slight, cold smile. “I like it.”

His words drip with amusement, but there is no fear behind them. He tilts his head slightly, his eyes glancing upward toward the shrinking blood cloud above him, as if calculating his next move.

His gaze lingers on it for a moment, as if he is checking its strength, calculating how long it will last.

"Not yet."

Winter’s thoughts race behind his blood-red eyes. He can sense the battle shifting, can feel Yuui’s rising power. His blood cloud is shrinking, his resources dwindling.

Slowly, Winter’s gaze shifts from the blood cloud to the battlefield below. His allies—his followers—stand scattered across the battlefield, their eyes watching the fight with a mixture of awe and fear. They have fought for him, bled for him, trusted him with their lives.

Winter’s eyes flicker with a passing thought.

Should I sacrifice them?

The thought passes through him like a whisper, cold and indifferent. He can drain them, consume their blood, and fuel his power further. Their lives would extend his defenses, reinforce his armor, and keep him standing longer. After all, they are nothing more than pawns—tools to be used when necessary. But the thought quickly dissipates.

“Nah…” Winter mutters under his breath.

“It will only buy me some time,” he reasons, the spark of amusement in his eyes fading into something colder, more calculating.

“A few more moments of life for my defenses—but nothing more.”

He clenches his fists, his blood armor tightening around him. Sacrificing his allies would delay the inevitable, but it wouldn’t solve the real problem.

Yuui is growing stronger, her attacks more precise, her power more focused. Even with the extra life span from their blood, he would still be on the defensive—and he isn’t here to stall.

Winter’s gaze shifts back to Yuui, his expression hardening.

“I need something to win,” he thinks, “not to stall.”

His smile disappears completely as he takes in the scene before him. Yuui’s energy orbs crackle with raw power, her resolve clear and unwavering.

She is no longer the terrified warrior from moments before. She is something else now—something much more dangerous.

Winter can feel it in the air, the shift in the battle. She isn’t going to stop, and she isn’t going to falter. The next move has to be his, and it has to be decisive.

As the blood demon floats above, his mind races for the answer he needs to end this fight—not with delay, but with finality. He knows he will have to be smarter, more ruthless than ever before. There will be no more stalling.

Victory or nothing.