Outside the Domain...
Kanae remained where she stood.
Unlike Kagerou, she had not been drawn into the Domain.
The moment Tsukikage activated his Blood Demon Art, the space before her twisted violently. Darkness surged outward, swallowing Kagerou's figure in an instant.
Then...
He was gone.
In his place stood an enormous black dome.
Its surface was unlike anything Kanae had ever seen. It wasn't merely black; it was darkness given form. Even the Moonlight vanished the moment it touched the dome, as though the light itself had been devoured.
For a few moments, Kanae stood frozen, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
"...Kagerou?"
No answer came.
The reality of the situation struck her all at once.
Panic seized her heart.
But only for an instant.
That panic quickly gave way to something far stronger... Worry.
"Kagerou..." Kanae called once more, gritting her teeth as she ignored the sharp pain in her side and forced herself onward. "Kage-kun?!"
"Ugh..." Every step sent pain shooting through her body, but she refused to stop.
She reached the massive dome and raised her Nichirin Blade, and then, with all her strength, she swung.
*CLANG!*
The impact rang through the forest like steel striking solid iron.
Kanae's eyes widened.
Her blade rebounded violently, the force traveling through her arms until her hands went numb.
The dome didn't even tremble. Not even a single mark had been left upon its surface.
"This..."
"A futile effort"
A calm voice echoed from behind her.
Kanae's eyes sharpened instantly.
She spun around, her Nichirin Blade raised without hesitation.
Standing several meters away was Tsukikage.
He looked exactly as before, his expression relaxed, almost amused, as though he had merely stepped away to watch an entertaining performance.
"You..." Anger flashed across Kanae's face as she pointed her blade toward him. "What did you do to Kage-kun?!"
Tsukikage let out a quiet, disdainful snort.
"My Domain has already accepted him"
His crimson eyes narrowed.
"There is no escaping it"
Then his expression twisted into one of genuine confusion.
"...You truly are strange"
He stared at Kanae as though looking at something incomprehensible.
"Your companion has disappeared before your very eyes"
"You are wounded"
"And death stands only a few steps away"
His voice grew sharper.
"So why... why are you still worrying about someone else?"
The shadows beneath his feet writhed violently.
"Why don't you fear your own death?"
Kanae remained silent for a moment.
Then she slowly lowered the tip of her blade.
Her expression was calm.
Steady.
She looked directly into Tsukikage's crimson eyes without the slightest trace of fear.
"...A creature like you..." Her voice was quiet. Almost gentle. "...could never understand"
A brief silence followed.
Then she continued.
"Because you've never truly loved anyone"
The smile on Tsukikage's face froze.
"...What did you say?"
The question came out low, almost disbelieving.
Kanae didn't answer.
Her grip around her Nichirin Blade tightened as she steadied her breathing; she had no intention of wasting another word on him.
Tsukikage's expression gradually darkened.
"...Do you truly believe your insignificant courage changes anything?" he asked, his crimson eyes narrowing.
Kanae slowly lowered her stance.
Her eyes never left him.
"Flower Breathing..."
The air around her seemed to still.
Even with the sharp pain coursing through her body, she forced herself to move.
"Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo!"
In a single graceful motion, Kanae vanished.
A streak of silver flashed through the darkness like a flower petal dancing upon the wind.
*Slash!*
Her Nichirin Blade swept across Tsukikage's neck.
For a brief instant... His body split cleanly in two.
Then...
*Fwoosh*
Instead of flesh and blood, his form dissolved into countless strands of black smoke before scattering into the night.
"...A clone"
She didn't lower her sword.
Not yet.
The forest was silent.
Too silent.
Then.
"...Hehehe..." Soft laughter echoed from somewhere behind her. "...Very good"
Kanae turned instantly.
Tsukikage stood several meters away, smiling as though nothing had happened.
Then another voice spoke.
"...But what did that accomplish?"
She looked to her left.
Another Tsukikage leaned casually against a tree.
"...You're injured"
A third appeared on her right.
"...You're exhausted"
A fourth emerged from the darkness ahead.
"...And you're completely alone"
One by one... More figures stepped out from between the trees.
Some stood atop thick branches.
Others emerged from behind massive trunks.
Several simply materialized from pools of shadow on the forest floor.
Within moments, more than a dozen Tsukikages surrounded her.
Every one of them wore the same unsettling smile.
Every pair of crimson eyes stared directly at her.
Yet none of them attacked.
Not a single one.
Instead... They spoke.
"Tell me..."
"How long do you think he'll survive in there?"
"The Domain devours hope"
"It swallows reason"
"It crushes the heart"
"You've already seen what my shadows can do"
"If even someone as composed as him could be trapped inside an illusion..."
"...what do you think is happening to him now?"
Kanae's grip around her Nichirin tightened.
She refused to answer.
Tsukikage's smiles widened.
"Perhaps he's already begging"
"Perhaps he's crying"
"Perhaps he's calling for his mother again"
"Or perhaps..."
All of the clones spoke at once.
"...he's already dead"
The words echoed throughout the forest from every direction.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Not to convince her.
But to wear her down.
To plant doubt where certainty once existed.
Because Tsukikage had already realized something.
Fear did not always come from monsters.
Sometimes... It came from not knowing what had happened to someone precious.
And he intended to exploit that fear until her heart finally broke.
Only then could he truly savor it.
The moment when hope shattered... When despair consumed the heart... When terror flooded a victim's eyes as life slowly slipped from their body.
To Tsukikage... That was the finest delicacy imaginable.
Fear was not merely his weapon.
It was the perfect seasoning for the human soul.
Everything else was meaningless.
Only fear mattered.
'...So,' Tsukikage thought, his crimson eyes never leaving Kanae for even a moment. 'Show me... Show me that fear. Show me the despair in your eyes-'
His thoughts stopped abruptly.
"...What?"
The word escaped his lips almost involuntarily.
Then... His expression twisted.
"W-What...?"
Disbelief quickly gave way to anger.
"YOU!!"
The shadows around him trembled violently.
Those eyes... That look... It wasn't what he had expected.
They weren't the eyes of someone who had lost hope.
Nor were they the eyes of someone drowning in despair.
There was no fear in them.
No hesitation.
No surrender.
Instead... Kanae looked at him with quiet conviction.
The gaze of someone who still believed there would be a tomorrow.
The gaze of someone who refused to give up.
"...No one will die," Kanae said calmly.
Her voice wasn't loud.
Yet it carried an unwavering certainty that echoed through the silent forest.
"Not me... Not him." A small smile appeared on her face. "I believe in him..." Her grip tightened around her Nichirin Blade. "...just as I believe in my own abilities"
The moonlight reflected faintly from the edge of her katana as she slowly raised it before her.
The tip of the blade pointed directly at Tsukikage.
Her eyes never wavered.
"No one will die..."
A brief silence followed.
Then Kanae finished her sentence.
"...Except you"
Her voice became as cold as steel.
"Demon"
For the first time since becoming the Lower Moon Six... Tsukikage felt something far more unbearable than fear.
He felt denial.
Because no matter how hard he tried... He could not understand why the woman standing before him still refused to break.