Rain began to fall. Not gentle. Not cleansing. Sharp streaks of ice and ash dropped from the sky as if the world itself was warning them.
Mai, Tiffany, and Duncan stood in a loose triangle. Across from them, Ran Fuji emerged fully into view. His cracked armor glinted like bone. His left eye was now a glowing socket pulsing faintly purple — a side effect of absorbing too many dead flower remnants.
Behind him, five shadowy figures stepped forward. Each wore fragments of destroyed flower armor — scavenged pieces. Failed wielders. Burnt echoes.
Ran raised a jagged katana made of fused thorn spikes. "This time, I'm not collecting. I'm breaking."
Mai stepped forward, the blood around her pulsing hot. "You won't touch any of us."
"No," Ran smiled, "but they will."
The failed wielders charged.
Tiffany launched herself first — her sunflower energy surged, leaping and twisting with arrogant precision. She kicked two enemies into the air and blasted a third with golden glare. But one slipped through and slashed her side.
Duncan engaged next. Violet shields expanded around him, absorbing strikes. He moved calmly, but every hit he delivered cracked his composure — he was still off-balance from Mai's confrontation.
Mai unleashed hell.
Blood coiled from her palms, dancing like serpents. She spun midair, slicing through two attackers with crimson lashes, then landed and screamed — a pulse wave of pressure erupted.
Ran stepped into the fray.
He moved like smoke and steel — precise, brutal. He clashed blades with Tiffany, who grimaced as her energy flickered. He used the crack in her confidence to strike her across the chest.
She crashed into a tree. Blood on her lips. "He's... stronger."
Mai turned, eyes glowing. "Get away from her."
Ran swung — but Mai caught the blade in her blood threads mid-air. The two struggled — a dance of pressure and rage.
Then — a scream.
One of the failed wielders stabbed Duncan in the back.
"No!" Mai and Tiffany yelled together.
Duncan fell. Violet energy shattered around him like glass.
Tiffany pushed through the pain, grabbed Mai's arm. "Focus! We kill him now."
Mai nodded. A new glow lit her chest. The red aura deepened — veins across her arms turned black-red. She floated off the ground.
Ran looked up. "So... that's what the rose can do when it's angry."
Mai didn't answer. She launched forward like a crimson meteor.
The two collided in midair. Thorn against blood. Rage against obsession.
Mai screamed. "Burn!"
A massive blood surge erupted, engulfing Ran in a spiral. His armor cracked. His body slammed into the ground.
Silence.
Mai landed, shaking. The shadows vanished. Only smoke remained.
Tiffany rushed to Duncan. He was bleeding, unconscious, but alive.
Mai knelt beside him. "This isn't over. They're coming again. Stronger."
Tiffany looked up, eyes hard. "Then so will we."
Above them, the clouds parted, revealing, far in the sky, a flicker of orange light.
If you liked it, leave a review or Favorite the story:).