Zeto

The sealed door trembles beneath the third cell as Captain of Unit 11 reaches the maintenance chamber. His black soul-blade scrapes against the narrow stairs, sending sparks over the stone.

Marlene plants herself between the captain and the stairwell, gray rock clenched in one hand. His blade meets her spiritual barrier, driving her boots backward but not breaking her stance.

Marie presses her dimmed mark against Janet’s insignia. Pale lines awaken across the door, forming three interlocking symbols while red warning marks crawl toward Cold Yuichi’s boots.

The door shudders harder. Behind it, Janet’s voice weakens beneath a low mechanical hum, while Captain Unit 11 forces Marlene another step toward the wall.

Cold Yuichi thrusts his sword toward Captain Unit 11, blasting a broad sheet of ice across the maintenance chamber. The captain vaults over it, but the frozen surge drives him away from Marlene and clears her approach to the stairwell.

Marie turns fully to the sealed door, pressing her glowing mark into the interlocking symbols. The Unit 12 insignia opens in layered rings, and Janet’s restraints release within the chamber.

Darius lands beyond the ice and draws his black soul-blade. Marlene slips past his guard toward Cold Yuichi, while the opened door reveals Janet stepping forward, pale but standing.

Cold Yuichi meets Darius Venn between the open door and the stairwell. Their soul-blades clash repeatedly, white frost grinding against black steel as each swing drives sparks across the stone.

Darius tries to force Cold Yuichi backward, but Yuichi holds his ground and turns the next exchange into a sharp opening. His blade strikes through Darius’s guard.

Darius staggers, severely hurt, and his black soul-blade slips from his failing grip. He drops to one knee, unable to continue while the chamber’s warning marks pulse around him.

Marlene raises the gray rock and sends a jagged burst of lightning into the floor beside Darius. The discharge cuts off his retreat and leaves him motionless without touching Cold Yuichi.

Janet steps fully through the opened doorway, pale and unsteady but free of her restraints. Marie keeps one hand on the fading insignia as the chamber begins to seal around the witnesses.

Cold Yuichi turns from the fallen Darius and leads Janet, Marie, and Marlene up the maintenance stairs. Red warning marks fade behind them as the group runs through the cell corridors.

Marie supports Janet beneath one arm while Marlene keeps the gray rock raised. Sealed doors unlock in sequence, clearing the route through the eastern passage and away from the cells.

They burst from the cell wing into the central court. Pale towers shudder overhead, but the open foundation passage remains clear, carrying them toward the court’s outer exit.

Across the central court, a stern middle-aged woman in a white captain’s mantle holds Friken by the collar over the outer wall. Her dark braid, sharp smile, and silver insignia mark her as Unit 1’s captain. Below, Friken’s green spirit bow flickers, its limbs drooping as though falling asleep.

Her smile widens toward Cold Yuichi. Janet stops beneath the shaking towers, while Marie grips her arm and Marlene raises the gray rock toward the captain’s position.

The captain releases Friken. He drops onto the outer ledge, catches himself against the stone, and rolls clear as his fading spirit bow settles beside him.

Cold Yuichi keeps his white sword drawn, its frost-lit edge aimed toward the captain. Janet, Marie, Marlene, and Friken hesitate beneath the shaking towers.

Elara lowers Friken’s collar completely and steps away from the outer wall. Her silver insignia catches the pale light as she faces Cold Yuichi alone.

Janet guides the others toward the outer passage. Elara remains in the court with Cold Yuichi, white mantle still, hands visible, and the distance between them deliberate.

Cold Yuichi swings his white sword forward, releasing a concentrated blast of ice across the central court toward Captain Elara Voss.

Elara steps into the attack instead of retreating. She catches the freezing surge between both hands, her white mantle snapping in the pressure.

Her fingers close. The ice blast fractures into bright shards, then shatters harmlessly across the stone. Frost washes around her boots without slowing her.

Elara advances through the fading frost, sword still undrawn. Behind her, the trembling towers reflect her silver insignia as the empty court grows colder.

Cold Yuichi swings repeatedly, driving across the central court. Elara slips past each strike with precise footwork, her white mantle snapping through the frost-laden air.

On the final swing, Elara catches the white blade between both hands. Blood darkens her sleeve where the edge bites, but her grip does not loosen.

She twists the sword aside and punches Cold Yuichi across the court. He crashes against the far stone, pain jolting through his shoulder and ribs.

Elara follows without hesitation, crossing the distance in a blur. Her boot drives into his stomach and sends him skidding across the pale floor, leaving him bleeding lightly.

Cold Yuichi swings from the ground, but Elara knocks the white sword aside with one sharp kick. Her next kick drives him backward across the frost-slick stone.

He collides with Captain Elara Voss at the edge of the court. The impact tears through her stance, and her silver insignia cracks against the pale floor.

Elara drops motionless beside the shattered insignia, her white mantle spread across the stone. The towers fall silent around her, and no counterattack follows.

Cold Yuichi’s sword lies several paces away, its frost fading. His shoulder and ribs ache from the earlier blows, but he remains conscious and able to move.