The night was eerily quiet.

  Too quiet.

  I woke up with a sharp inhale, my body instinctively tensing as if my subconscious had sensed something wrong before my conscious mind caught up.

  The fire had nearly burned out, casting long, shifting shadows across the trees. Masanori and Rin were still asleep nearby, their breathing slow and steady.

  But Akari—

  Akari was already standing.

  She wasn’t moving.

  She wasn’t speaking.

  She just stood there, unnaturally still, her face completely void of emotion, her head slightly tilted.

  A chill crawled up my spine.

  "Akari?" I said cautiously.

  She didn’t respond.

  Then—her body shuddered.

  The Transformation

  It started at her fingertips, a slow ripple across her skin, like ink seeping through paper. The dirt-streaked edges of her kimono darkened, the fabric smoothing, growing richer, as if reality itself was reshaping around her.

  Her small, frail frame elongated, her proportions shifting—her limbs growing longer, her presence swelling outward like an abyss unfurling its true form.

  Her soft brown eyes bled into violet, their glow piercing, unnatural.

  "What the hell?" Masanori stirred, groggy at first, but as he turned and saw her, his body snapped upright.

  Rin was already reaching for her talismans, her instincts razor-sharp.

  Masanori, still thinking she was human-sized, lunged forward, sword fshing toward her throat—

  But before the bde even reached her, Akari’s transformation finished.

  In the space of a breath, her height doubled, then tripled, her body stretching into its true towering form.

  Masanori’s sword sliced through empty air.

  Because her throat was no longer there—it was several meters above him now.

  And then—she smiled.

  A slow, knowing smile, her amusement rippling through the air like a predator watching its prey struggle to comprehend its mistake.

  "Oh dear," she mused, her voice now silkier, richer, her words rolling like honeyed venom.

  Masanori barely had time to react before she moved.

  Overwhelming Strength

  Her hand shed out faster than I could track, her fingertips alone nearly the size of his entire upper body—

  And before he could dodge, she snatched him up.

  Masanori let out a choked gasp, his feet leaving the ground instantly, his entire form lifted effortlessly by her grip around his torso.

  "Now, now," she murmured, her fingers tightening, armor groaning under the pressure. "Where were you trying to cut me?"

  Masanori struggled against her grip, but it was useless—he might as well have been a rabbit trapped in a wolf’s jaws.

  Rin was already mid-chant, golden talismans fring to life around her.

  "Let him go!" she shouted, flinging them forward.

  The paper seals ignited, sacred fmes surging—

  And Mayume let out a soft exhale.

  With her other hand, she simply swept her palm downward, a wave of violet energy pulsing outward.

  The ground shook violently, and the force alone sent Rin tumbling backward, her talismans instantly snuffed out like dying embers.

  She barely had time to recover before Mayume turned her gaze to her fully.

  "You're quite bold, little Onmyoji," she mused. "Let’s see how well you handle this."

  Then, with a single flick of her wrist, she hurled Masanori aside.

  His body crashed through tree after tree, splintering wood, before he finally hit the earth with a sickening thud.

  I heard him groan weakly—he was alive, but badly injured.

  Rin scrambled to her feet, but it was too te.

  Mayume was already upon her.

  She kicked forward, the sheer force of her bare foot hitting the earth sending cracks rippling through the ground, throwing Rin off-bance.

  Then—Mayume reached down.

  Her fingers wrapped around Rin’s entire upper body, lifting her effortlessly off the ground, just as she had done to Masanori.

  Rin gasped, struggling, her arms pinned by the sheer force of Mayume’s grip.

  "So fragile," Mayume murmured, watching Rin squirm with a zy sort of amusement.

  Rin let out a frustrated snarl, her body twisting, her hands glowing as she tried to summon another spell—

  And Mayume simply tightened her grip.

  Rin’s breath hitched, her ribs compressing under the pressure.

  "Let’s not," Mayume whispered. "I’d rather not crush you just yet."

  I felt ice shoot through my veins.

  She wasn’t just pying with them.

  She was going to kill them.

  And that was when I broke.

  "STOP!" I roared, stepping forward before I could even think.

  Mayume paused, her violet gaze flicking toward me.

  For a long, suffocating moment, she just… watched me.

  Then—she smiled.

  "Ah, Jin," she purred, her voice silken with amusement, as if I had just said exactly what she had been waiting for.

  She released Rin, letting her crumple to the ground, gasping for breath.

  My chest heaved, my fists clenched so tightly my nails dug into my palms.

  "Take me," I said, my voice steady despite my pounding heart.

  Mayume arched a brow. "Oh?"

  "You want me, don’t you?" I stepped forward. "Take me. But let them go."

  A beat of silence.

  Then—she let out a slow, delighted sigh.

  "Smart boy."

  Her smile widened, slow and satisfied.

  "But," she mused, "what makes you think I’ll keep my word?"

  I swallowed hard.

  "Because Reika is coming for you."

  The air shifted.

  For the briefest second, something flickered in her eyes—not fear, not amusement, but calcution.

  Then—she let out a soft chuckle, rolling her shoulders as if stretching after a good night’s rest.

  "Very well," she murmured.

  Then—her fingers curled around me.

  Her palm engulfed my torso entirely, lifting me off the ground as if I were weightless, pressing me firmly into her warm grasp.

  She adjusted her grip slightly, holding me in a way that was almost casual, as if she had merely plucked me off the earth like an interesting trinket.

  "You’re mine now," she purred.

  And just like that—

  She turned and walked away, carrying me into the night.

  Masanori and Rin were left behind, watching helplessly as I disappeared into the darkness.