"You can't waste all the time you've got here," Lucy said coldly as she raised her hand, Renshi flaring. A glowing circle of intricate runes burst to life beneath their feet. The ground trembled as her teleportation circle expanded, swallowing them in a flash of light.
The battered Shinra gasped in awe. Such advanced teleportation… this woman's potential is beyond what I see everyday.
In an instant, they reappeared outside the massive walls of the Kingdom of Ashura. The gates loomed before them, torches blazing along the battlements and casting long streaks of light into the distance. Yet something was wrong—eerily wrong.
No Shinras. No guards. No living soul.
The man stumbled closer to Lucy, bowing his head with guilt. "I… I'm so sorry, miss. I had no choice. They threatened to kill my comrades… and the other court. They said if we didn't bring the young lady, the man, and the two boys…" His voice broke as he stepped backward, trembling. "I didn't want to betray you. They're just too powerful for us!"
Sasaki's eyes widened. "Damn it—it's a trap! Unsheathe your swords!"
Alfie and Jackson instantly drew steel, stepping close to Lucy, whose gaze remained calm but razor-sharp. She scanned the shadows, her senses extending like threads of light.
"Thirty-five," Lucy said flatly. "There are thirty-five of them hidden."
Her words froze the air.
"Don't panic," she continued. "We could teleport back right now… but if we do, the innocent Shinras inside will die. I can't allow that."
Sasaki's voice exploded with anger. "What the hell are you saying? This coward set us up—and you still pity him?!"
Lucy's voice rose like thunder. "Don't you raise your voice at me. Analyze the situation! They tried to fight, but they weren't strong enough. If it were you three cornered like this, I'd make the same choice if I can't defeat the enemy!"
The skinny man staggered forward, his desperation snapping into rage. "I brought them, just as promised! Now where are my comrades?!"
From the wall of shadows behind him, an assassin emerged like liquid darkness, blade curved into a cruel C-shape. The strike came for his neck—swift and merciless.
But Lucy was already there.
Switch mode!
Her sword flashed like lightning, severing the assassin's arm clean before the strike landed. Without a sound, the attacker melted back into the shadows, his pain swallowed by the void.
The skinny man collapsed, stunned. Tears poured from his eyes as he screamed into the dirt. "She… she saved me? Even after I betrayed them…?! I never wanted this—I never wanted any of this! I'm useless… I'm worthless!"
Lucy didn't even glance his way. She touched Alfie and Jackson's shoulders, then switched them beside the sobbing man. Sasaki appeared at her flank, sword humming with crimson Renshi.
"Get ready to fight for your life," Lucy told the skinny man coldly. "You'll be seeing your friends soon."
Then she rose into the air, Renshi bursting around her like golden wings.
"W-Whoa…" Alfie's jaw dropped. "Master can fly? That's… so cool!"
Lucy spread her arms wide. Her voice rang like a commandment across the battlefield.
"Absolute Erase: Second Form… Light of the Sun."
Her Renshi condensed, forming a tiny sphere that burned with terrifying intensity. Seventy percent hydrogen, twenty-eight helium, the rest fused from trace elements—all controlled with surgical precision. A miniature sun, born from her light.
The night shattered.
The assassins, once cloaked in perfect camouflage, were suddenly dragged into the open as the searing light stripped away their shadows. Thirty five of masked figures stood revealed, their curved swords glinting, their bodies frozen by exposure all dressed in advance assassin costume.
Lucy lowered herself slowly, leaving the ball suspended in the sky like a blood-red dawn.
"It's showtime," she said softly. "Let's end this."
---
She vanished.
One assassin's head nearly rolled as her blade cleaved down, stopped only by the curved steel raised just in time. The clash rang like thunder. A second blade from the assassin's other hand slashed toward her ribs—Lucy twisted, blocked, and countered in one fluid motion.
Five more shadows lunged at once.
Sasaki was already there, intercepting three with brutal force. His blade screamed with crimson arcs, sparks flying as he fought to hold the line. Lucy handled the remaining two with flawless rhythm, her strikes heavy but precise.
But they weren't alone for long.
Ten assassins broke from the pack, switching behind Alfie and Jackson in perfect sync.
"Not under my watch!" Lucy's voice boomed. She reappeared before them in an instant, parrying every strike at once. Her blades blurred, deflecting steel faster than the eye could follow. Sparks scattered like rain.
Then—with a surge of Renshi—she summoned a second sword, dual-wielding against the storm. Ten blades crashed down against her, but Lucy's form never wavered. She held them all at bay, her strikes growing sharper with every clash.
Sasaki, meanwhile, gritted his teeth. The six assassins he faced pressed hard, their curved swords weaving unpredictable patterns. He barely kept up, each strike forcing him back.
"Damn it… too many!" he hissed.
"On my way!" Alfie broke free, sprinting toward Sasaki. Jackson followed, blade already glowing faintly with focused Renshi.
But five assassins cut them off, switching directly into their path.
"Try me!" Alfie roared, steel clashing as he blocked two attackers at once. His arms trembled under the pressure, his footing slipping.
The remaining three rushed Jackson.
Jackson's eyes narrowed, his breathing steady. Unlike Alfie, he didn't fight with raw power—he analyzed every strike, every angle, every rhythm. His blade intercepted with surgical timing, dodging the rest by a hair's breadth.
Their duel blazed into a deadly contest, Alfie struggling under brute force while Jackson's technique kept him just one step ahead.