Violets are Blue (like Crows)

The morning mist still covered the path to Ferro Scuro. The group stopped dead in its tracks: a silhouette waited in the mist, crows circling it like a swarm of living shadows.

Her heels clicked against the damp stone. The black corset, trimmed with lace and feathers, seemed to absorb the light. The doctor's beaked mask, blackened by time, hid the scar on her face. 

Only the faint echo of her rapid breathing filtered through the metal filter.

"I didn't expect company," she said in a calm voice, clear as a bell.

Dakim frowned; his instinct didn't perceive her as a simple traveler.

Ayato gave a wry smile.

"My... what a dramatic presence. I wonder how much of this is disguise, and how much is reality."

"Funny you should say that," the woman retorted, tilting her head condescendingly, smoothing the feathers of her corset. "And yet, look at me... trapped in this absurd world, dressed like a carnival specter."

As she spoke, her fingers repeatedly ran along the metal rim of the mask, as if seeking reassurance that it was still there.

A hint of familiarity irritated Ayato. Something about her way of speaking sounded too familiar to him due to her cracking voice.

Isolde sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Let me guess... another lunatic like Tatsuya."

The mask bowed slightly.

"Ah, so it was you parasites who defeated that arsonist. The dark-haired elf disguised as a witch told me everything... albeit with the grace of a cheap actress looking to cash in."

The venom in her words drew a nod from Isolde and Ayato: undoubtedly, it was Zeltha who had summoned her as a backup plan.

Meanwhile, Vera watched her with a mixture of suspicion and apprehension. Her voice rose timidly, but firmly:

"And why do you want to become the Dark Lord?"

Behind the mask, Yuzuru let out an almost laughing murmur. As she spoke, her gloved hand ran along the metal edge of the beak, as if making sure the piece wouldn't come loose.

"Why...?" she repeated, and the word trembled slightly, a break that seemed to scratch her own throat before it resumed its usual melody. "It's not because of the title, child."

She paused for a long time. The crows flapped their wings as if filling the silence for her.

"What I long for is for my name to spread like poison. For it to be spoken even in dreams, with the same fear with which one prays to a plague."

Another nervous caress to the mask; The brush of fingers on the metal scraped louder than the cries of birds.

"And if I have to turn your flesh to dust to achieve it…" This time, his voice lowered to a broken whisper, so intimate it was more disturbing than a scream. "…then so be it."

The silence stretched on for too long. 

Crows circled the group, flapping their wings as if waiting for the signal. Yuzuru once more stroked the rim of her mask; the metal scraped with a harsh sound.

"I've talked too much," she said, her voice fluctuating between melody and crack. "It's time to show why I deserve an altar."

With a flap of her black wings, the feathers stirred like a dark flock.

Ayato smirked.

"Well... now the show really begins. Should we applaud at the end or throw tomatoes right away?"

Isolde sighed, drawing her sword.

"If I become a carrion bird because of you, you'll die again, Ayato, but by my hand."

Dakim took a step forward, serious, his spear ready.

"Attention. Their game isn't just for show."

Vera swallowed and prepared her witchcraft books.

"Then... let it begin."

Yuzuru raised an arm; the crows cawed in unison, darkening the mist.

"Sing, my little ones! Today we shall dine on arrogance and bones."

The air filled with black wings and cawing. The battle had begun.

Yuzuru raised her arms, and the crows merged with her silhouette. 

The morning mist turned black, and a roar of wings filled the air. A dark gale blasted toward the group, like a wall of invisible blades.

Whooosh!

Whooosh!

Dakim planted his spear against the ground, the metal vibrating under the pressure of the wind.

"Back!" he growled, meeting the first charge.

Vera raised a circle of defensive light, but the blast ripped through it like wet paper. The crows slammed into the shield, their beaks rattling with metallic fury.

In midair, Isolde had taken the form of a bat. 

The first blow grazed her; the second struck her full-on. She fell to the ground with a crunch and reverted to human form, rolling in the grass.

"Control your distance! Don't underestimate her!" —she spat, rising to her feet with his sword ready.

Ayato coughed in the dust and covered his face.

"Great... crow attacks are predictable, but damn tornadoes have RNG. Who designs this shitty boss?"

Yuzuru snapped his fingers. Instantly, several whirlwinds erupted in different directions, kicking up dirt, graves, and bone fragments. Her laughter filtered through the beak of her mask.

"How sweet, my little ones... they even know how to season carrion with pumpkin and carrot."

The cawing intensified, as if celebrating the mockery. An entire flock launched itself at Vera, pecking at her defenses while she held on with her books.

"I'm not a vegetable!" she moaned, reinforcing her shield.

Ayato gave her an incredulous look.

"Debatable."

Vera gritted her teeth, blowing into her flute as hard as she could. A distinct gust swept through the cemetery. 

Sylphidia emerged from the mist, staggering, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glassy.

"Why are you waking me up so earlyyyy?" she sobbed, her voice cracking with an immortal hangover.

Isolde pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, please... did this carnival goddess have to be fair?"

"Why are you doing this?" Sylphidia moaned, her cries trailing like a baby seal's. "Uwaaah!"

The sobbing turned into wind.

 A random whirlwind swept across the field, tearing feathers and bones from the ground.

Hooooh!

Yuzuru, who had until then remained unfazed, lost her footing.

The whirlwind tossed her through the air and hurled her against the graveyard flagstones with a metallic clang. 

For the first time, her mask tilted in a disjointed manner.

"Tch!" she gasped, her voice cracking beneath her beak. "Silence, damn it!"

Sylphidia continued to cry. The wind that gushed from her wails swirled everyone's hair and clothes. 

Ayato raised his arms to cover his face and couldn't help but laugh desperately.

"Perfect... the most broken secondary boss in the game, and our summon is a drunken goddess with a baby seal complex. This is unfair even to me!"

Crows cawed, the mist swirled like an endless spiral. The battle had barely begun, but the first crack in Yuzuru's calm was open.

The chaotic Sylphidia´s wind lifted Yuzuru like a rag doll and threw her to the ground with a loud crash. The beak of her mask cracked against the broken slab of a tomb, while crows screeched around her in a hysterical chorus.

Ayato didn't miss his opportunity. He rushed over, grabbed her torso, and applied a headlock, twisting with the fluidity of someone who had practiced more street fights than prayers.

"You can't do wrestling moves on a woman!" Yuzuru yelled, half-suffocated, as she tried to wriggle free.

"And I apply gender equality," Ayato retorted sarcastically.

And then, BAM! 

A flawless suplex slammed her against the stones. The impact was brutal, although Yuzuru's body was so light that it felt like whipping a fragile mannequin.

The silence lasted only a few seconds. 

Yuzuru lay face up, stunned, breathing in a harsh hiss. When she raised her hand to touch her face, she discovered a shallow scratch on her exposed cheek.

 It was barely a red line, but in her mind, it became a grotesque wound, a confirmation of all the monsters that dwelled in her reflection.

Her eyes trembled, filling with rage.

"H...how dare you...?"

A piercing scream pierced the meadow. 

The mask, torn, fell to the side. What had been hidden beneath it emerged in all its rawness: a wide mouth, ripped from cheek to cheek like the grin of an urban demon, fangs gleaming in the gloom.

From that impossible throat sprang crows, no longer summoned but vomited as fragments of its fury. 

The birds screeched and circled around her, forming a maddened whirlwind.

Yuzuru staggered to her feet, each step marked by the rage that further distorted her features.

"You... you'll pay! YOU'LL ALL PAY!"

The air itself began to tear apart, the previous tornadoes now raging cyclones that followed no pattern. 

The battlefield became a hell of black feathers, shrill shrieks, and gusts as unpredictable as the young woman's broken mind.

Isolde stepped back, raising her sword to cover her face.

"Her strength... has changed. She's become a rabid animal!"

Vera, her hair whipping in the wind, gulped.

"No... it's like her trauma has taken form..."

Ayato, still on guard, frowned as he tried to maintain his composure.

"Great. I just unlocked the second phase of this boss. And I haven't even leveled up yet."