Time slipped quietly away, second by second, like a ghost creeping through the forest.
"Sister, what is this place?"
Yuta's eyes widened in terror. She discovered that what she held was not a sharp sword, but a soft, boneless hand. Its owner tilted her head and looked at her. Her emerald eyes were like clear springs in the forest, and her black hair fell over her shoulders. Clad in white and barefoot, she stood amid the thick green moss, like a forest elf.
"Sister?"
"Otis?"
"This is..."
The nightmare-like memories from ten years ago came surging back.
"No, Otis, don't stop! Run!"
Yuta suddenly felt the hand in hers vanish. Her sister dispersed like a reflection on water, replaced by a bright, narrow ray in the darkness—the gleam of a sword's edge. The illusion before her made her shudder violently. Instinctively, she raised the White Lion sword in her hand. Clang! The two blades met, sparks flying, and Yuta staggered one step backward before she could react.
The fully armored Cruz Knight opposite her also paused slightly. A puzzled voice came muffled through the metal visor. "White Lion sword... an Eluin?"
She had actually let herself get distracted.
Yuta broke into a cold sweat. She had never imagined that she would make such a fatal mistake in battle. Though the successive fights had already exhausted her body and mind, legends claimed that people saw their entire past flash before their eyes before they died. Could this be a sign that death was approaching?
She breathed heavily—
Seven or eight swords thrust toward her. Even at her best, facing one of them would have required her to fight with all her strength, let alone now.
The forest burned fiercely in the darkness...
Clad in white robes embroidered with sun emblems across