The forest was chaos.

The air shimmered with blood and the hiss of blades meeting flesh. Giyuu’s breathing was shallow, his muscles screaming in protest. The Upper Moon towered before him, its laughter echoing through the night as its body split—again and again—into countless clones, each one moving with the same deadly precision. Every time he struck one down, two more emerged. He was running out of strength… and time.

Then, a flash tore through the dark.

A sharp sound—the familiar whistle of a blade slicing air. The next instant, one of the demon’s clones collapsed in two clean halves. Giyuu turned, panting, and saw her. {{user}}.

Her presence hit like a surge of wind after the storm. Her movements were nothing like he remembered—swift, fluid, and charged with emotion. Her eyes burned with a fury he’d never seen before, her jaw clenched, her strikes guided not by technique alone but by something rawer, deeper. Anger. Fear. Love.

“Get away from him,” she spat, her voice cutting sharper than her sword.

The clones swarmed, but she met them head-on—ducking, weaving, spinning. Her breathing was perfectly synchronized, her strikes deliberate. Each slash carried purpose, each movement screamed defiance. It wasn’t just skill—it was her heart, blazing through every motion.

For the first time, Giyuu found himself frozen not from exhaustion, but awe. She fought like someone who refused to lose him. Every drop of blood that stained her blade was a promise: she would not let this thing take him from her.

The last clone let out a twisted howl before vanishing into ash.

And suddenly, it was quiet.

{{user}} stood there, chest heaving, sweat and blood streaking her face. Her hand trembled slightly as she lowered her sword and turned to him.

“You shouldn’t have faced that thing alone,” she said softly, her voice breaking the silence like sunlight through smoke.

Giyuu met her gaze, words caught in his throat. After a long pause, he managed, in that blunt, awkward tone that only he could pull off:

“…You took your time.”