Two Years Ago | Tokyo | Shibuya Sky Observation Deck
Night spilling over Tokyo like ink across a canvas. From their high perch of glass and steel, the city stretches endlessly — towers glitter like stardust, traffic threads pulsing crimson through the veins of neon-lit streets below. Tourists crowd the observation deck, their phones raised to capture the moment, but at the edge of it all, Lucil and Mai stand quietly at the railing, lost in something deeper.
Mai's cobalt-blue hair dances in the breeze, catching the moonlight.
"Lucil." she says softly "Look— Tokyo is alive. I love this city. I love my life here."
Lucil rests a hand on her shoulder. "May I ask why?"
"The rhythm… the people… everything feels interconnected." Her smile catches the lights. "One day I'll become a guardian."
"A guardian, hm?" Lucil tips his chin. "You're a mage too, remember."
She exhales. "So what truly separates a mage from an ordinary human?"
Lucil thinks for a beat. "Focus. A mage dedicates every heartbeat to evolving magic or chasing a single goal— sometimes to break the world's own rules. We'd sacrifice anything for it."
"And revenge?" Mai asks.
"Emotions can sharpen or blind us," he says, "but mindset is the real edge."
Lucil lifts two fingers. "Rose Illusion."
A hush sweeps the deck. Tourists fade like mist, leaving only rose petals, swirling in soft crimson spirals around the siblings.
"In magic." Lucil explains "everything is permitted if it serves growth. Simple revenge— petty satisfaction— has no lasting value."
Mai watches petals drift into the lights. "Then what's your goal?"
"Simple and impossible." he answers. "Break fate and shatter every chain."
She laughs, turning back to the glowing city of Tokyo. "Then mine is to be both guardian and mage."
Lucil chuckles. "A girl who fights unfairly and vanquishes her enemies."
"Unfairly? " Mai grins. "My pleasures are tiny— sharing ice cream with Riel, losing at chess to Yamashi, teasing Reijo and Aki, training with Mom and someday proving to Dad that I'm worthy as a mage."
Lucil pats her head. "Your deep philosophy flipped to playground talk in record time."
"Hey!" She elbows him.
He laughs, then turns solemn. "But what if killing becomes unavoidable for the greater good? Suppose someone with radical ideals tries to force them on the entire world—"
Jake's face flashes through Lucil's mind, and he stiffens.
Mai doesn't hesitate. "Then I'll kill." she answers, voice calm— then adds, "but never you. My respect isn't just about family ties; it's about your worldview. You're my sensei, Lucil— and my brother."
Lucil's expression softens. "A guardian and a mage… I believe in you. Warriors usually bear that title, but with the right training, you can protect this city."
Mai's voice drops. "Then teach me to detach from my emotions when I fight. Teach me to kill, if I must."
"Killing never comes easy." Lucil warns. "Choose your targets with care. I can show you how to focus."
"I despise killing." she admits "but if I'm forced to, I want to be ready— ready to become the Reaper of Japan."
Lucil laughs quietly. "You really loved that tale of the Reaper of Atlant."
Mai's eyes gleam with resolve. "She was a legend. I'll be the same." Petals swirl around them in this solemn moment.
Present Day | Red Dragon Estate | Shrine
Lightning fissures the dusk as fist meets wand: Mai's strike slams into her father's guard, detonating petals and dust in a thunder-crack that throws them both apart. They land hard.
Mai wipes blood from her lip, eyes blazing red.
"Blood-Rose—Rosen Sword, Angel Fix."
Blue blossoms swirl to her right hand, weaving into a longsword of living petals.
Ryujin's mouth twists. "You learned his magic? How humiliating."
"He gave you chance after chance to choose peace!" Her voice cracks, then hardens. "You repaid him by murdering Mom! For what?"
Ryujin's gaze falters— grief surfacing, then drowning beneath rage.
"It's worthless." Mai continues. She lifts the glowing blade. "I won't let my brother finish this for me. Ryujin Akairyu, I declare you an enemy of Japan. As a future guardian, I will vanquish you."
Ryujin's laugh rings manically through the shrine. "A guardian? Protector of who? We're mages— born to fight dirty."
"Exactly—and you created an entity to do your killing."
Red dust flickers across his face. "How do you—"
"You always underestimated me." Mai bites her lower lip hard; resolve like steel.
"Blue World—Rose Morph—Apocalyptic Angel!"
The air blazes cobalt. A second sword unfurls along Mai's left arm— petals spiraling into steel— until both blades pulse with the same rhythm. She grips them tightly, and with a flash of blue light, the twin swords fuse into one magnificent greatsword, glowing like cobalt reflected on deep water.
"Lucil told me about the Reaper of Atlant— a woman who cut down the world's monsters." Ryujin snarls, voice raw with fury. "Enough of your stories— and Lucil's lies!"
"Se Ta, Re Do Li!" he roars.
Crimson dust thickens like a stormcloud. The shrine doors burst apart with a thunderous crack. Twenty puppet-acolytes march in, their limbs shackled with glowing red chains, their empty eyes fixed on Mai.
Her smile sharpens— menacingly.
"Finally." she says coldly, lifting her sword. "You're taking me seriously."
Blue petals swirl as her aura deepens.
"I'll live as the Reaper incarnate." she declares. "Every stain on this country will face judgment. I'll kill you, Father— and Lucil will shatter his fate."
Rage ignites Ryujin's aura. His hair flames scarlet as he chants,
"Se Ta, Ri Va!"
Black chains whip toward Mai. The Iron snakes rattle furiously. She pivots, swords flashing.
"Then watch what your daughter can do."
"Blue World—Fated Slash!"
She draws one clean arc. Blood beads in her palm, smearing the grip crimson-violet. For a heartbeat the stroke seems gentle, almost polite.
Then the shrine erupts in silence. Blue petals bloom from nothing, each one a razor-thin blade.
A storm descends.
Thousands of razor-sharp azure petals spin through the air, slicing toward Ryujin and the encroaching puppet-acolytes. Each petal whirls with lethal precision, blurring the shrine into a flurry of light and death. The acolytes barely react before they're torn apart, limbs and masks vanishing beneath the bloom of blue destruction.
Mai plants her feet, breath steady, and grips her sword tighter.
"Blue World — Apocalyptic Destructo."
The slash that follows is heavier— reality itself seems to bend with the weight of it.
Ryujin growls, "Sh IL Raz!"
A dome of red energy flares to life, a shield thick with ancient runes and hatred but it's not enough. Petals pierce straight through the shield's edges, skewering any surviving acolytes in their path. Ryujin's eyes widen as he witnesses the devastation tear through the room like a wrathful wind.
Mai lifts her hand with a single, fluid motion.
"Blue World — Inversia."
Petals scatter and gather across the shrine walls like stars taking shape. Her voice drops, reverent and resolute.
"Blue World — Atlantic Void."
The petals ignite into spheres of glowing blue. Then— silence. Not an explosion. Not heat. Just absence. Emptiness swallows the space like an unseen mouth devouring the world. The shrine trembles as void pockets collapse its very foundation.
Ryujin staggers, stunned. The ground around him shatters. Above him— the moon, full and pale, no more roof to block its shining light.
A single rose glows blue near his feet.
"Rose Switch."
In a blink, Mai appears in his place, sword already rising.
"Blue World — Angelic Slash!"
Ryujin shouts "SETA, MARIATH!"
Scarlet energy flares once more. Red chains erupt, lashing onto Mai, halting her momentum mid-strike. Still— a whisper of her blade cuts through the colossal dragon statue behind him, splitting it entirely in half.
Then she spins.
A single, brutal kick.
Ryujin rockets into the air, smashing through the remaining structure and crashing into the garden above. A hole left in his belly.
"Blue World — Inversia."
Petals spiral around Mai's wrist, wrapping around her like armor. She snaps her fingers—the shackles shatter into mist.
"Rose Switch."
She reappears in front of him
The garden is now full of blue roses.
Ryujin coughs blood, breathing ragged but his eyes burning with anger.
"You wasted so much mana… and still couldn't finish me."
He forces himself up, body trembling, eyes bloodshot.
"I'll spend my life force if I must. You and your mother… both of you were meant to be entities. Weapons. You share her cursed blood."
He slams his staff to the ground.
"SA RA TI, ET NUM XXXX."
His body ignites in a violent crimson glow. The wand glows, reshaping into a spear of pure bloodlight. Energy hums around him.