Kaito unsheathed the sword fully in one smooth, practiced motion.
He raised it into an overhead stance.
His body centered.
His stance… absolute.
And then—
With eyes sharp and unwavering—he spoke:
"That's your limit."
The words echoed through the chamber.
Dalton flinched.
A sudden, involuntary twitch in his jaw.
That phrase—
It cracked something inside him.
He launched forward with a grunt, panic hidden behind clenched teeth and flared nostrils.
His fist cocked back, to deliver a blow. Dalton went in for a right hook.
But Kaito—
Lowered his overhead stance smoothly as Dalton closed in.
He stepped sideways, letting the first blow pass him.
"You're in Guu."
His voice was calm.
Dalton snarled, throwing another punch—Kaito ducked beneath it and said.
"You use it to release your stored attacks—"
Dalton followed with a flurry—jabs, relentless, like a boxer cornering his prey.
Kaito just kept dodging them all effortlessly.
Dalton closed in for another jab—this one straight. Sharp.
Kaito weaved under it.
Then, without pause—
His body shifted like water through a narrow gap, and his blade flashed forward in a blur—
—stopping just beside Dalton's face.
The tip of Kaito's sword kissed his right cheek.
A thin single line of crimson bloomed, cutting clean from mouth to cheekbone.
Dalton froze.
Kaito continued to say.
"But you're vulnerable in this phase."
Dalton recoiled.
He staggered back two steps, then wiped the blood with the back of his left arm—
Smearing it along his jaw.
His eyes burned with fury. His breath came harder now.
And then—
He raised the same left hand—
Snapped it up beside his face.
Fingers curled.
Crossed.
"Choki."
Clones erupted from Dalton's body like shadows leaping into the light, each one a perfect projection, all lunging straight toward Kaito.
"Yup," Kaito muttered, almost lazily. "Choki. The passive phase."
The first clone reached him.
In a flash of motion, Kaito stepped aside and cleaved through it. The clone burst into swirling petals, scattering in the air.
"You use it to split up your stored attacks among the clones," he continued, weaving through the crowd. "If they land a hit, I take it. But if I land first—"
He cut another clone down mid-sentence. Petals whirled in a frenzy.
"The stored attack bounces right back into your paa reservoir."
More clones came. More petals fell.
Dalton's expression tightened, his fists clenched. He watched—helpless—as Kaito carved through projection after projection with fluid, effortless grace.
Dalton's mind raced.
They're not landing...
Not a single one.
My storage—it's nearing the rim…
Kaito cut through another pair without blinking, then exhaled sharply. "Good thing these petal-shits can only use Guu phase. If they could rotate forms like you…" He shook his head with a smirk. "Man, what a pain that would have been."
Then—
Slash. Slash. Slash.
Thin gashes suddenly split open across Dalton's arms and chest, blood blooming beneath his torn shirt like ink dropped into clear water. He staggered, eyes wide.
Across the chamber, Kaito hadn't even looked his way.
"Oh right," he said, flicking a petal off his shoulder. "Almost forgot."
Another clone fell.
"There's a feedback mechanism, isn't there?" Kaito mused aloud, stepping through the carnage. "Some percentage of damage taken by the clones bounces back to the original."
He glanced toward Dalton with a grin.
"What is it—ten percent? One?"
The monks on the sidelines had fallen into stunned silence.
Then whispers erupted.
"Impossible…"
"He's overwhelming him… without even being touched."
"Look at how the tides have turned...!"
Soen and Kagen stood quietly, eyes narrowed, arms folded.
"All this time," Kagen said, voice tight with astonishment. "He wasn't just fighting."
"He was studying him," Soen finished, gaze never leaving Kaito, who was cutting through the hoards.
A whirlwind of petals danced through the chamber, blinding and chaotic—shreds of clones shredded mid-attack. And within it, silent as shadow, Kaito moved.
Like a ghost within the storm.
Suddenly, he emerged from the swirl, blade flashing—slicing straight for Dalton's neck.
Dalton's eyes widened. Instinct screamed.
Snap!
He shifted just in time—right hand jerking up, fingers crossing.
"Paa." The blade landed on Dalton's neck with no effect.
Kaito's brow twitched. "Whaaa?" he muttered mid-pivot. "Paaaa? Reallyyyy?"
Dalton panted, his limbs trembling under the weight of fatigue and blood loss.
Kaito landed on the floor. "So… now you're gonna store these incoming attacks? But what's the point? Aren't you already near your limit?"
Dalton froze.
Kaito tilted his head. "Once you hit fifty, everything I land'll just go straight through you anyway."
His voice dropped to something close to pity.
"Why didn't you just take the last hit while you were still in Guu and end it?"
Dalton's lips twisted.
"Shut up…" he hissed. "Like I'd give my life away just like that!"
Kaito sighed. Rolled his eyes. "Ohh, so that's it," he said, voice dry. "You wanna die trying."
He shrugged, raising the blade again. "Fine by me. I'm kind enough to let you pick your poison."
Dalton snarled, stepping back.
"Dammit!!" he muttered.
Then—snap!
More clones launched forth, They flooded toward Kaito like a tide.
But the outcome didn't change.
Slash. Slash. Shatter.
Each one met steel—none landed.
They burst into petals mid-strike, never even getting a chance to deal some damage.
Dalton, chest heaving, winced as more cuts bloomed across his body—thin red streaks across ribs, shoulder, thigh.
Then he saw him.
Kaito. Walking calmly forward through the blizzard of falling petals.
His sword gleamed.
He raised his blade striking it down on Dalton.
One blow. Two. Three. They were causing no effects.
Dalton barely raised his arm to block, staggering backward with each strike.
And then—
SLASHHHHHHHH!!
Dalton screamed.
His right arm hit the ground with a dull, final thud. Blood sprayed across the floor.
Kaito exhaled, his voice sharp.
"Oi. I told you not to step back. Now your hand's gone instead of your head."
Dalton just stood there wide eyed, too stun to say anything staring at his severed and bloody stump.
Kaito stared at him with faint disgust, then sighed. "So now you're stuck in Paa. With your right hand gone…"
He pointed his blade at Dalton's trembling shoulder, then down to the bloodied stump.
"You need the right hand sign to switch between active phases—Paa and Guu," he said coldly.
Then he shifted the blade, slowly, toward Dalton's remaining hand.
"Left hand's for Choki. Passive phase."
Dalton's pupils quivered.
Terror crawled up his spine.
He began to back away, frantic, hurling more clones at Kaito in a desperate spray.
Kaito danced through them like wind through reeds—each step precise, each swing a death sentence.
"You can't switch to Guu with your hand cut off, " he said, cleaving another.
"These Choki clones won't hit me."
Slash.
"You've hit your limit on Paa..."
Slice.
He stepped forward, each stride closing the distance.
Dalton stepped backward, lip quivering.
Kaito raised his blade. The petals swirled around him, ghostly and weightless.
"You see," he said, voice a whisper now—
"That's what's called… checkmate."
SLASHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
A thin, dark line traced itself across Dalton's torso—shoulder to hip.
For one long second, nothing moved.
Then—his body split, and the upper diagonal part landed with a thud, scattering the resting petals across the wooden floor.
They lifted into the air—disturbed, restless.
A soft whirlwind of them danced around the chamber.And for a moment—
There was nothing.
Just silence.
Broken only by the quiet rustle of petals… floating through the aftermath.
8:57 AM— Upper Monastery Chamber, Main Hall
The fight had finally come to a conclusion.
Meanwhile-upper chambers of the monastery, corridor outside ayame's chamber.
Rika hurried down the hallway, her footsteps quick against the wooden floor. She slid the paper door open.
"Ayame, we need to move quick—"
She froze.
"A… Ayame?" Rika's voice cracked. Her eyes widened.
Ayame was climbing over the railing in the balcony, her small hands gripping the wood, one of her bare feet already on the other side.