Three Choices

"Crimson Eye of the Other Shore!"

Kanae gave Shinobu no time to think. In the very next instant, she activated the Crimson Eye of the Other Shore once more. Her blurred vision changed again, and everything within her sight suddenly slowed down.

At that very moment, Kanae swung her sword. By herself, she forcibly blocked every attack coming from all directions. Then, with all her strength, she slashed. Sword light bloomed like flower petals, sweeping up the raging ice and snow and surging in one direction. With a thunderous boom, all the frost in that direction exploded apart, blasting open a path.

"Go!"

There was unprecedented severity in Kanae's voice.

All the chaotic thoughts in Shinobu's mind were crushed beneath her sister's unprecedentedly stern cry. Her mind went blank, and by the time she came back to herself, she found that she had already made it beyond the encirclement.

Behind her was an overwhelming storm of ice and snow, along with Doma's somewhat cold voice.

"You're going a little too far, aren't you?"

Doma stood atop a towering ice pillar. He coldly glanced at Kanae, who was still trapped within the encirclement, but paid her no heed. Instead, he swung his ice fan at Shinobu, who had escaped the trap.

An overwhelming barrage of ice spikes swept toward her, attempting to seal Shinobu back inside.

But having regained her senses, Shinobu flashed and weaved through the ice spikes with nimble speed. In an instant, she evaded the attack, then fled into the distance without looking back, swiftly vanishing into the night.

Beneath the pitch-black night sky, a trail of tears stretched through the air like a ribbon.

The tears fell soundlessly to the ground, freezing into ice crystals.

"..."

Doma's expression darkened. Taking a step forward, he prepared to chase