The wind howled through the battered cliffs of southern Kyushu. Waves crashed violently below as if the ocean itself sensed what was coming. Far above, under the pale-blue sky turning crimson, three figures stood on a broken ridge: Mai, Tiffany, and Duncan.
They had followed the trail of Gigel's forces for days, encountering remnants of his destruction and fragments of long-forgotten ruins. But today, something felt different. The air was tighter. The silence, heavier.
"Someone's close," Tiffany muttered, golden eyes scanning the landscape.
Mai said nothing, her red eyes narrowing, nostrils flaring. Her body felt warmer than usual. The blood inside her hummed with unspoken tension. Duncan, behind them, unsheathed his weapon — a curved violet blade pulsing faintly with energy.
Before they could move, the ground shook.
From behind a jagged boulder, a lone figure stepped into view. He wore white. Head to toe. A pale ninja uniform. But it was not the clothes that made them freeze — it was the man's aura. Cold, absorbing all light around him. And his eyes: empty white, like the ghosts of old war gods.
"Ran Fuji," Duncan said, voice tense.
Mai looked at him. "You know him?"
Duncan nodded slowly. "He's called the Thorn Collector."
Ran spoke. His voice was calm, but twisted by disdain. "I remember you, Duncan. The deserter. The coward who ran when his comrades begged him to stay."
Duncan's jaw tightened. Tiffany stepped forward. "And what do you want from us, pretty boy?"
Ran didn't answer. Instead, he threw something to the ground. It rolled between them: a mask.
From Gigel's agents.
"I collect the remains of flower wielders," Ran said. "Their petals, their power, their shame. You three stink of it."
Mai clenched her fists. "You're not getting anything from us."
"Oh," Ran smiled. "But I already have."
Without warning, he lunged.
The battle erupted like a firestorm.
Ran moved like smoke, twisting, vanishing, reappearing with lethal strikes. His weapons were forged from the thorns of corrupted flower shards. One slash could paralyze. Another — disoriented.
Mai met his attacks head-on, her punches trailing fire. Duncan covered her flank with sweeping violet arcs. Tiffany darted between them like lightning, her golden momentum colliding with Ran in a blur of speed.
But he was faster than they expected. Stronger, too.
He struck Duncan hard, sending him tumbling.
"Duncan!" Mai cried.
"I'm fine," he growled, blood on his lip. "Keep going."
Tiffany leapt into the air, flipping over Ran's blade and kicking him in the jaw. He staggered — but laughed.
"You think your arrogance gives you strength?" he spat. "Let me show you what true pain looks like."
And then he turned his eyes on Mai.
She didn't hesitate. Red energy burst from her feet as she charged. She met him in a brutal flurry — fists, knees, heat. The earth cracked beneath them.
But suddenly, his blade cut across her thigh.
Mai screamed.
Tiffany gasped and raced forward, catching Mai before she fell.
Ran back. "Not dead yet? Good. I want you to feel it."
Duncan rejoined, blade glowing, standing beside them.
"We finish this together," he said.
The three moved as one. A triangle of fury.
Tiffany blinded him with a solar flare. Duncan disarmed him with a sweeping strike. Mai — bleeding, burning — landed a blow straight to his chest.
Ran collapsed. For a moment, silence.
But he wasn't dead.
"I'll see you again," he hissed, disappearing in a burst of white mist.
They remained silent.
Night fell.
Mai lay by the fire, bandaged but silent. Tiffany sat beside her, unusually gentle, holding her hand.
"You scared me," she whispered.
Mai managed a weak smile. "I scare myself."
Duncan stood guard, silent, eyes scanning the darkness.
He hadn't said it aloud — but he knew this was just the beginning. And that Ran Fuji was only one of many ghosts waiting.
As the fire crackled, Tiffany reached into her pouch and pulled out something: Leo's journal.
She looked at Mai. "I need to tell you something."
Mai's eyes widened.
"I think it's time you knew the truth."
And as the firelight flickered over her face, Tiffany began to speak — her voice cracking with the weight of years.
"I had a brother..."
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