The prison's silence was suffocating. Every step echoed through the empty halls, the air thick with cold and damp—a chill that crept beneath the skin and settled in the bones.
At the heart of the prison, on a crimson wooden chair, sat Natsuki—her small figure curled up, porcelain-pale, lost in a deep, unbroken sleep. She looked so fragile, so untouched by the chaos around her.
"Shuo-kun, look! It really is Natsuki-chan!" Nagisa whispered, awe and relief mingling in her voice.
"Natsuki-sensei… she's completely out," Kanon murmured, worry etched across her face.
The girls gathered around, curiosity and concern in their eyes. Shuo stepped forward, a mischievous glint in his gaze. He knelt beside Natsuki, gently tugging at her cheeks.
"Hey, Natsuki-chan, time to wake up. If you don't, I might just have to spank you," he teased, voice low and playful.
Kanon frowned, anxiety rising. "Nangong-senpai, why isn't Natsuki-sensei waking up? Is something wrong?"
Shuo understood perfectly. The Prison Barrier was Natsuki's creation—a world held together by her dreams. If she woke, the barrier would collapse, and every criminal inside would be unleashed. Natsuki was stubbornly refusing to wake, clinging to her duty even in sleep.
Shuo leaned in, lifting her chin with a finger, his smile turning wicked. "If you won't wake up, I'll just have to steal your first kiss. Wonder what your real lips taste like, Natsuki-chan."
He paused, voice dropping to a whisper. "Or maybe I'll do something even naughtier… Who knows, maybe our future daughter will be just as cute as you."
Natsuki's brow twitched ever so slightly—Shuo's words had struck a nerve.
"Shuo-kun, stop bullying Natsuki-chan!" Nagisa huffed, cheeks puffed out in indignation as she tugged at Shuo's sleeve.
The other girls quickly joined in, scolding him with a chorus of protests.
Shuo grinned, undeterred. With a subtle flicker of power, he reached into Natsuki's mind, gently coaxing her consciousness back to the surface.
But before Natsuki could stir, a flash of silver erupted behind Yuma—a knight in gleaming armor, sword drawn, lunging forward with lethal intent. The blade's path was aimed not only at Natsuki, but at Yuma and Shuo as well.
Panic swept through the group. Just as the sword was about to pierce Yuma, Shuo snapped his fingers. The knight dissolved into mist, vanishing without a trace.
Nagisa's voice shook. "Yuma, what just happened? Why did your knight attack us?"
Yuma's face was ashen. "I… I have no idea. It's never done that before."
Her Guardian Knight had gone berserk, turning on her as if she were an enemy.
Shuo's eyes narrowed. "Tch. Trying to kill your own daughter? That's cold—even for you, Chitose Aya."
Yuma stared at Shuo, horror dawning in her eyes. She understood now—her mother's magic still controlled the Guardian Knight within her.
A cold, disdainful voice echoed through the hall. "She's nothing but a disposable tool."
A girl stepped from the shadows—long black hair, violet eyes, dressed in black shrine maiden robes. Chitose Aya.
Yuma's voice trembled, numb with grief. "Mother… why?"
Nagisa's eyes widened. "That's Yuma's mom? They look almost identical—except for the hair."
Even Asagi was struck by their uncanny resemblance.
Aya's gaze was icy. "She's just a clone I made from my own cells. Her only purpose was to break the Prison Barrier and free me. Now that she's failed, she's useless."
Yuma's world crumbled. The woman she'd called mother saw her as nothing more than a tool.
"Enough! Yuma-chan is not a tool!" Nagisa shouted, voice raw with anger.
Yuma turned to her friend, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Aya ignored them, raising a hand and tracing a sigil in the air. "Time to return what's mine."
A surge of magic ripped through Yuma. She collapsed to her knees, screaming as purple threads snapped one by one, tearing the Guardian Knight's power from her body.
Yukina drew her blade, fury blazing in her eyes. "How can you do this? For a witch, the Guardian is part of their soul—a piece of themselves! How could you steal that from your own daughter?"
The others rallied behind her, outrage and grief burning in their faces. Nagisa's eyes flashed red, trembling on the edge of losing control.
Just as Aya was about to rip the last remnants of power from Yuma, Shuo appeared at her side in a blur of motion. He placed a hand on Yuma's shoulder, channeling his magic to seal the Guardian's power safely inside her.
Aya's voice was sharp, edged with panic. "Who are you?!"
Shuo ignored her, kneeling beside Yuma. He healed her wounds with a gentle touch, then swept her into his arms.
Before Yuma could recover, Shuo leaned in and pressed his lips to hers—a deep, lingering kiss that left everyone in the room stunned into silence.
Yuma's eyes went wide, mind blank, completely overwhelmed by the sudden intimacy.
Shuo released her, turning to Aya with a sly grin. "Chitose Aya, since you don't care about her, did you imagine, just for a moment, that I was kissing you instead?"
He held Yuma close, letting Aya see them together. "If you don't want her, why not let me have her? I'll dress her up like you—maybe even have both of you as my personal maids. Or perhaps you'd like to warm my bed together?"
Yuma blushed furiously, mouth working soundlessly, utterly flustered. Even Aya, usually so cold and composed, was left speechless, her mask shattered by Shuo's outrageous provocation.
For a moment, the prison was silent—then the tension broke, and the group could only stare, dumbfounded, at the chaos Shuo had unleashed.
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