Ch 361: Collision.

The bell rang, signaling the start of morning break, and the transition from classrooms lessons to physical training. Alexia gathered her belongings and headed for the dojo. On her way, she spotted Chisato and Takina and stopped to let them catch up.

"I see you survived the boring lessons." smiled Alexia.

"Yes. It was a hard struggle against boredom, but we prevailed!" chuckled Chisato. "Now starts the fun part!"

"I look forward to sparring with my sister." smiled Alexia, looking forward to the evening's training.

After having magic circuits engraved on her body, Alexia's magic power had almost doubled. Gaining Noah's shared attributes had given her a much bigger boost, and that was only speaking about her magic power. When she added the Weapon Mastery skill, the enhanced strength and agility… She felt confident that for once, she wouldn't be the one losing.

"Yes, you should do enjoy it while it lasts." chuckled Chisato. "Eventually, Iris will join Valhalla, too."

"I know. But the gap between us will be less. I can live with that. And don't ruin my fun now!"

"We won't." smiled Takina. "Actually, you trouncing her will be the best kind of advertising we could produce, so…"

She stopped as they saw 'Renu' come towards them.

"Hi Hi, Renu-chan! How are you doing today?" asked Chisato with a happy grin.

Nu looked around, making sure no one else was close enough to hear, before replying with a low voice.

"I… Takina, Chisato, can we speak in private?" asked Nu after a glance at Alexia.

"If this is about last night's business, it's fine if Alexia hears." said Chisato. "She's part of Valhalla now."

"…I see. I'm not happy. You knew about me from the start. I feel like a joke."

"We don't see you as one." shrugged Takina. "You're doing your job, just like we're doing ours. If it can make you feel any better, we think you're pretty good at acting."

"Yes." smiled Chisato. "And we're happy that Shadow or one of those among you who can cure the afflicted found you. No one deserves to suffer like this."

For an instant, Nu winced. Alexia assumed that she was remembering some bad memories. It only lasted for an instant, though, and Nu steeled herself.

"Alpha and the others wish to meet with you tonight. I was specifically instructed to ask you to bring with you the foreign black-haired girl, the one with the red spear, and the girl you saved in the sewers. I think you said her name was Millia?"

"Oh, you're worried about them? Sure, we'll ask them if they wish to meet with you guys. If they don't, however, we won't force them." nodded Chisato.

"Alright. I'll go find you in your dorm shortly before midnight to bring you to the meeting location, then." nodded Nu before she turned and left.

"Looks like things are going well, if they're willing to talk." said Takina, and Chisato nodded.

"Yes. But some of us should keep patrolling. We may not have gotten all the murderers yet." said Alexia.

"That's right. We don't need to all go." said Chisato.

They saw Sakura and Rin walk leave the classroom building, with Shuuko, Emi and Kanna just behind them.

Takina told them about the upcoming meeting, and they went to change into their training outfits.

One peculiarity they had noticed as soon as they started learning the Bushinryu style, was that it actually wasn't that good. There were a lot of superfluous or telegraphed movements that impaired anyone practicing it. After discussing it with Rose and Alexia, they understood why.

On modern earth, sword practitioners from various parts of the world observed each other's styles for centuries and slowly integrated moves from different styles into their own. Inefficiencies had been gradually ironed out, and moves had gained in efficiency.

In Midgar, however, the complete version of the Bushinryu style was only taught inside the Dark Knights Academy, and teaching it to any foreigner was considered a crime.

It was no wonder that Shadow, who had reached a high level in many different martial arts in his previous life, including several fencing styles, and possessed immense magic power improving his strength, speed and reflexes, easily dominated any of the locals.

Chisato wondered how he would compare with true masters like Scathach or Okita, when the time came.

…

It was late evening when Nu infiltrated the dorm and knocked on Chisato's door.

Chisato opened a few moments later.

"Ah, come in, Nu." smiled Chisato.

Nu nodded and stepped in. Takina, sitting on a chair around the table, nodded to her. Sitting beside her were two girls Nu had never seen before. One was beautiful, with long black hair, and wore a black and white school uniform whose design was unknown to her. The other was a smaller girl with silver eyes and gray hair. Her soft features and the way her mouth was slightly open gave Nu the impression of someone who had just woken and wasn't at full capacity yet.

"Nu, this is Akane Nishino, and Millia."

"Hello, my name is Nu." nodded Nu.

Akane nodded, and said something Nu couldn't understand, but from her gestures, she assumed it was a variant of 'nice to meet you'.

"H-Hello." said Millia.

"They both decided to decline your invitation. Akane didn't want to strain our meeting by needing to have someone translate everything to her, and Millia is a bit shy." explained Chisato.

Nu nodded in understanding, as the girls who were saved by Shadow Garden were often very self-conscious, having yet to really integrate that their bodies had returned to normal.

It wasn't a problem with the plan, however. Forty of Shadow Garden's members, under the command of Epsilon and Delta, would attack the dorm at midnight and capture them.

"Scathach, Shuuko, Emi and Kanna are roaming the city to search for more potential murderers, because we do not know if we got them all yet. So, those who will come to that meeting will be me, Takina, Rin, Sakura and Alexia. But if you have questions to ask Millia or Akane, feel free to ask now."

"I understand." nodded Nu. "And I assume Scathach is the name of the woman with the red spear."

Chisato nodded, and Nu's expression softened. "Millia, I'd like to know if you are being well treated with them."

"I am." nodded Millia. "They give me delicious food, and they will help me become strong, so that I will be able to defend myself and others in the future."

"I am glad to hear that. Would you consider joining Shadow Garden? We are a group of young women who were also suffering from demonic possession, but Shadow healed us.

"Nu, no poaching our new members in front of us! That's rude, don't you think?" protested Chisato.

"…I do not think giving her a choice is rude, but I won't insist." sighed Nu.

"Alright. If you have no more questions, let's get on the way before you try again. I'll bring the others." Chisato left the room. Nu nodded at Millia and Akene, then followed Takina outside.

"Alpha-sama decided for the meeting to be in a warehouse near the river, in case negotiations would fail and fighting would erupt. We can be there in fifteen minutes or so, if we walk down the streets"

"Or less if we jump from rooftop to rooftop." nodded Takina.

"I came at this time assuming that we would walk. Or we will be too early." said Nu, and they nodded.

"Yes. I guess that's prudent of your group to want to avoid us meeting in your usual headquarters, at least for the first time." shrugged Takina. "But you guys are worried for nothing. We won't do anything violent, unless you start it first."

The door next to Chisato's room opened, and Chisato came out, followed by Alexia, Sakura and Rin. They nodded to Nu.

"And yet, you challenged us to a duel." said Nu as she started leading them out of the dorm.

"That's because we know Shadow would never accept having to obey someone else unless we defeated him first, and we already told you why we think he needs to have someone put some restraints on his behavior." nodded Chisato. "Besides, some of the strongest among Valhalla have been itching for a strong opponent, and Shadow is the strongest one we've seen so far."

"Well, not quite." chuckled Takina suddenly. "Another team met a certain young man who could locate anyone regardless of distance, and once locked into that person, he could make that person's body suddenly turn into less than ashes. If that guy was here, he could have killed anyone, including Shadow, from a country away. Those of us who went into that world were pretty careful not to offend him."

"I know." snorted Rin. "I was there.  But it turned out well. And I look forward to the day when we'll be able to meet them again."

"Come to think of it, is Shadow stronger than Antares, the Monarch of Destruction that Akeno and her team killed?" wondered Chisato.

"Antares?" asked Nu, intrigued.

"In that world, he was more or less the equivalent of your Demon Lord Diablos." shrugged Sakura. "He could take human form, and he was a very skilled swordsman, but his real body was that of a gigantic dragon with wings almost large enough to cover the whole academy, and a head about the size of that building over there."

"That is quite big." nodded Nu.

"I think Shadow is stronger." frowned Takina. "Antares's dragon breath is probably comparable to Shadow's Atomic when it comes to widespread destruction, but Akeno and the others were fast enough to avoid his attacks. Shadow will likely be harder to evade."

"You seem to have experienced many interesting things in those other worlds." said Nu.

"You could say that, yes." said Chisato with a more sober tone. "But often, 'interesting' means 'not peaceful', and we've seen our share of horrors and atrocities. There are some worlds out there that really aren't great places to live in. We're trying to do some good while we're over there, but it is not always enough…"

"I see… I have an important question I wanted to ask you." said Nu as she paused and turned to them. "About Shadow's… secret. You knowing about it is worrying us. Have you told Princess Iris or the two guards you are training with?"

"No." said Takina with a shake of the head. "This information is strictly limited to the members of Valhalla who are present in this world, and our leader. We won't trust Iris with it unless she joins us, and we don't trust Marco and Glen. At least, not with this. If they thought that telling the king would benefit their country, they probably would."

"…I am relieved." nodded Nu as she turned and resumed her walk. She was fairly confident Takina wasn't lying, and that meant that things wouldn't have to get even messier.

…

On the way in, Nu proved to be quite curious about their experiences in other worlds, and the girls didn't mind satisfying it.

"It is this warehouse." said Nu as she pointed to a particularly large building, and Sakura nodded as she observed the building. It was a bit larger than the surrounding warehouses, and she spotted a few silhouettes on its rooftop or in the alleys surrounding it.

She supposed it made sense for the Seven Shadows to post sentinels, since they had ample manpower.

"By the way, Nu. You didn't tell us if Shadow will attend that meeting or not. I saw him from a distance during the afternoon break at school. Did you tell him about us already?"

"Yes, he said he will attend." nodded Nu. "He should be inside."

Sakura nodded, and focused on her Master/Servant bond with Medusa, who was following them.

[Can you scout ahead, while remaining at least thirty meters from Shadow?]

[I will. Do you have a reason to suspect an ambush? They'd be insane to try one when they have the threat of us revealing Shadow's identity hanging over their heads. Besides, we can detect lies, and at no point did this ability trigger since Nu came.]

[Yes. But it costs nothing to be careful, right?]

[I am circling around the warehouse. There are ten sentries outside. I'm entering through the back wall… I see them. They decorated the warehouse like a throne room, with a red carpet and a massive chair. Shadow is sitting on that chair with Alpha, Beta, Zeta, Eta, Gamma, and another dozen others I don't recognize forming two rows like an honor guard. I don't see Delta and Epsilon. One of the sentries is reporting our arrival.]

Sakura nodded to herself. They were now less than two hundred meters from the warehouse, and it was a bit late to hesitate. And it just occurred to her that the only one back at the dorm who could defend it was Okita.

She discreetly used item creation to create a folded slip of paper in her left hand and took Rin's hand.

Rin raised an eyebrow as she felt the paper and palmed it with a word. Making sure that Nu was looking in another direction, and that she was hidden behind Takina's back, she unfolded the paper with a thumb, and glanced at it for less than half a second. On it were written the following words.

"Ask Scathach to return to the dorm. Medusa says Epsilon and Delta unaccounted for."

Rin frowned slightly as she pocketed the paper and made a slight nod at Sakura.

[They aren't saying anything, but aside from Shadow, they look… I just retreated, Shadow glanced at my direction.]

[I see.] nodded Sakura.

She was probably worrying for nothing. For all she knew, Epsilon and Delta might be out there searching for murderers as well.

One hundred meters now.

Nu glanced at her watch.

"Perfect, we'll be there with one minute to spare. Shadow-sama doesn't like tardiness."

"I'm sure." nodded Chisato.

As they approached, two girls wearing black and gold slime suits under their hooded capes jumped from the rooftop, nodded to them, and opened the warehouse's large wooden doors.

Sakura nodded to them once as acknowledgement as they entered, then fixed her attention on those waiting inside.

Nu led them on the red carpet, and the group stopped ten meters from Shadow. Five of the Seven Shadows were present, observing them with mixed curiosity and wariness.

"Shadow-sama, I brought members of Valhalla as instructed." said Nu.

"Good job, Nu." nodded Shadow. "But I was told there were more of them."

"Akane didn't want to come because she doesn't understand the local language yet." shrugged Rin. "Millia is a bit shy, so maybe she'll meet with you guys later, and the others are patrolling the city. We do not know if we got all the murderers last night, and five of us are more than enough for a talk. I'm Rin. Rin Tohsaka. Nice to meet you everyone."

Sakura, Takina, Chisato and Alexia introduced themselves succinctly, and Shadow nodded.

"So, what is your organization doing here in the capital of the Midgar kingdom?"

"Hey, just because we know who you are doesn't excuse you from introducing yourselves when we first meet, you know?" frowned Rin. "Or have you forgotten basic manners?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised, while Alpha and the others glared at her.

"You have guts. I like that." smiled Shadow as he straightened his back. "I am Shadow. And this is Shadow Garden. Those are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Eta, Zeta, Iota, and others."

Alpha and the others nodded when their names were called, their glares lessening when Shadow didn't disapprove of Rin.

"You said your organization is called Valhalla." said Shadow. "I am curious about the choice of that specific name. Do you know its meaning?"

"Of course." smiled Chisato. "In the Nordic mythology, Valhalla is the name of the realm where the souls of great warriors feast and train while they wait for the final battle that will determine humanity's survival. Our leader chose that name because we often invite some of the strongest women in the worlds we visit."

"By now, we have amassed quite a collection of talents. Some have agreed to join simply for the opportunity to measure themselves against other monsters. And those talents learn the abilities exclusive to our organization and become even stronger!"

Rin, carefully observing Shadow's expression, didn't see the interest or eagerness she expected. Instead, she saw rejection, and she berated herself for not realizing sooner.

Shadow had become a martial artist to feed his obsession, but in the process, he had not developed the mentality of a true martial artist.

To him, the perspective of meeting people as strong as himself, or even stronger, was not an opportunity to hone himself. It was a threat to his desire to be the eminence in the shadows. Because how could he be the eminence, if some other people were openly stronger than himself?

Rin glanced around, and she saw on Alexia's and Sakura's faces that they had come to the same realization.

"I that why you suggested that ridiculous duel?" asked Shadow with a derisive snort. "You want to poach the members of Shadow Garden?"

"That's right." frowned Chisato. "But you shouldn't see losing to us as a bad thing. There are plenty of benefits in being part of Valhalla. Once our current mission is over, we'll be able to visit worlds as we please, we live in luxury, and our leader makes sure we have plenty of free time. We also get several abilities that are very useful to find criminals and deal with them."

"…Can you tell me more about those abilities of yours?" asked Shadow with squinted eyes.

"Sorry, but not right now." replied Chisato as she shook her head. "We need to keep some cards under our sleeves for our challenge!"

"Fair enough. But this challenge won't happen." declared Shadow.

"And what do you mean by that?" asked Sakura.

"You know about my name. So, I am giving you a choice. Join Shadow Garden willingly, join Shadow Garden as captives, and we will convince you to join… or die."

…

Cid was pretty pleased with himself right now. After delivering his ultimatum, those girls who were probably already recruits of Shadow Garden would either make a show of reluctantly accepting his offer or let themselves be captured.

Alpha and the others would make them disappear, only to reappear later as proper members, and they would be able to use them as plot devices to further along the otherworldly organization setting.

There was only a single thing that concerned him a little. Valhalla's name and its origins were from Earth, not from this world. Could it be that Beta or Zeta had found some ancient texts mentioning it?

After all, if he had reincarnated into this world, it was conceivable that others did, too.

This was important, so he would have to find a way to ask Beta without breaking immersion.

…

Rin was only half-listening to Shadow's words as Scathach was talking to her through their bond.

[Epsilon and Delta have surrounded the dorm, along with about forty other members. Okita has noticed and is preparing to repel the attack. Shuuko, Emi and Kanna have returned as well. I informed them.]

[Things are turning sour on this side as well.] thought Rin with a curse.

Akane and Millia didn't benefit from Noah's powers, and the Sanctuary was currently inside Chisato's inventory.

[We'll run. Scathach, you protect Akane. Okita will protect Millia, and the Aikawa sisters are strong enough to deal with anyone short of Alpha or Shadow. Run separately to divide pursuit and leave the capital, and try not to kill or maim any of the pursuers. We'll somehow regroup later, with Alaya's help if needed.]

[Understood.]

They conversation lasted only for an instant, and Rin refocused on Shadow and the members of Shadow Garden.

"…and only a child would think he can keep that information secret by killing a handful of members from an organization whose size he knows nothing about, and whose headquarters he can't reach!" was saying Sakura with a scathing tone.

"We just have to make you tell us." shrugged Shadow. "Alpha and Epsilon are very good at that."

"You have sent Epsilon and Delta, along with 40 more of your members, to attack our dorm." said Rin.

"They did?" asked Takina as she shifted her footing slightly.

"Yes." nodded Rin. "We're leaving. And we won't reveal your identity, Shadow. This will happen only if you murder thousands of civilians. But if you try to stop us, we won't be pulling our punches anymore."

"This place isn't one where you can leave freely." snorted Shadow. He nodded to Alpha, and all hell broke loose.

The members of Shadow Garden transformed some of the slime they wore into swords, then jumped at them from all directions. Only to be repelled by a wall of translucent, yellow shields.

Rin took her own two swords from her spatial ring and shouted.

"We're breaking out, then running in separate directions! We'll regroup later! Those at the dorm are doing the same!"

"Okay!" replied Chisato as she started firing in quick succession, aiming at the left thighs of the three girls closest to her. They didn't have time to block or evade and collapsed with grunts of pain.

The golden shields shattered in quick succession. Some, under the furious attacks of Beta, Zeta and Alpha. Others when they were struck just once by a black, bladed whip coming from Shadow's outfit.

Shadow was about to strike a second time, but suddenly looked left, just in time to see both of Medusa's feet impacting his flank in a splendid drop-kick, the magic circuits of her legs shining as she used her magic power to amplify the impact.

He used his magic power to harden his slime suit and absorb the blow, but the momentum still sent him flying to the side like a living bullet, and he crashed through the warehouse's wall and into the next one.

Rin and Takina didn't try to replace the shields. They had served their purpose.

"Shadow!" shouted Alpha in disbelief. After a half-second of shock, she ran toward Medusa, her slime sword shrouded with cracking arcs of magic power. Medusa simply evaded to the side and started running toward the warehouse's door.

Six of the shadow Garden members blocking their way shouted in surprise and panic when six ribbons of pure darkness suddenly coiled around their legs, and Sakura unceremoniously threw them at others, making a few of them fall.

Takina had already used Light Swords to cut apart the doors, and the girls used Shunpo to leave just as Shadow reentered the Warehouse through the hole he just made.

"Interesting!" grinned Shadow, seeing them run in different directions. He decided that Rin was the most interesting among them, and started the chase.

Rin cursed under her breath when she saw Shadow following her, black sword in hand.

She used Shunpo several times in quick succession, widening the gap between them. But he was persistent, and he actually was faster than her when she wasn't using Shunpo. They quickly jumped form rooftop to rooftop.

Rin carefully considered her options. He would manage to track her if she kept using Shunpo, as the technique emitted a burst of magic power in both the start and end location. And she suspected that she would run out of magic power before he did.

She then got an idea. She doubted Shadow would be able to fly after her! But she wouldn't do it right away. Rin wanted to buy a little more time for her companions to scatter.

When Shadow came within thirty meters of her, Rin took an emerald from her spatial ring and threw it at him.

Shadow immediately and slashed at the emerald by reflex, shattering it. To his surprise, the fragments spread around him in a spherical pattern, and magic power burst from them, forming a barrier of purple hexagons similar to a turtle shell. He felt a powerful gravity force pulling him down and trying to crush him.

Shadow unleashed some of his magic power, breaking the gravity trap apart, but he had lost a precious second, and Rin had widened the gap by over three hundred meters. Not discouraging himself, he resumed the chase.

Rin managed to reach the capital's outer wall before Shadow could catch up to her, and she jumped out without slowing. But instead of falling, her trajectory curved upward.

Rin turned as she kept flying, ready to taunt Shadow with a grin, maybe even give him the finger. But her heart sank as she realized that Shadow, too, could fly by emitting jets of magic power from the soles of his feet.

She decided to fly straight up as fast as she could. Maybe, Shadow would abandon the chase when they reached an altitude where the cold, lack of oxygen and low pressure would become severe issues. Rin could survive even space vacuum for a while, as long as she kept healing herself. Maybe, Shadow would not be able to.

…

Akane felt like she wanted to throw up, but didn't dare.

She was currently being carried away over Scathach's left shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and it was a wild ride. And four members of Shadow Garden were pursuing. They were about forty meters behind them.

The four pursuers were elves. Akane had been curious about them, but she would vastly have preferred to meet them in less extreme circumstances!

"I'm going to let you down in a few seconds, Akane." said Scathach in her usual emotionless voice.

"Please don't, Scathach-san!" pleaded Akane, paling. "I know I'm a burden, but…"

"That's not it. I am taking Epsilon hostage, to have someone to trade if they capture one of us."

"Oh." said Akane as Scathach slowed down abruptly, setting her on her feet.

The abrupt change still caused Akane to lose her balance and fall on her butt with a pained wince. But her attention was on Scathach. She already was among their pursuers, her red spear whirling as she batted their swords away.

"You!" exclaimed Epsilon as she hurriedly parried a blow from Scathach's red spear. Her expression turned into surprise as the momentum put her off balance.

It only took her a fraction of a second to correct her stance, but that fleeting instant was enough for Scathach to slam the shaft of her spear against the left tight of one of her companions, and Akane winced again as she heard the bone snapping, and the following scream of pain as the girl collapsed.

"654!" shouted another as she moved to put herself between the fallen girl and Scathach, ready to put her body on the line to defend her. But Scathach had already turned away, overwhelming the third girl, and breaking her right arm.

The girl who had moved to defend 654 gritted her teeth and jumped toward Scathach who had just turned toward Epsilon, showing her back to her.

Akane was about to shout warning she knew would come too late, but her shout died in her throat as she saw Scathach pivot and land a kick into the girl's stomach, sending her flying back with a strangled gasp.

Epsilon had a grim expression on her face as she desperately tried to defend herself, but Scathach…

Akane couldn't even describe what happened. She had blinked, and next thing she knew, Epsilon was falling forward, her arms flailing, and Scathach leaned over her, one hand suddenly holding what seemed like a black metal clamp. She immediately snapped the thing around Epsilon's neck, and Akane realized it was some kind of collar.

Epsilon hurriedly scampered back on her feet, one hand grabbing at the collar, and looked in shock as her black sword melted like butter in a micro-wave. No, her whole outfit was melting, dropping off her body in seconds.

Epsilon shouted in horrified denial as she used an arm to try to hold her large breasts, but the black slime slipped between her fingers, and Akane was shocked to see what had been underneath.

Epsilon, the most stacked of the Seven Shadows, wasn't a big-breasted elf at all! In fact, she barely had any breasts!

Epsilon sent an aggrieved, teary look at Scathach, but the Heroic Spirit wasn't in the mood to hear her protests. She grabbed the Elf's wrists, forced them behind her back, and snapped more black shackles around them.

"You pervert! Untie… humppphh!"  Epsilon's shout was interrupted by a black ball gag Scathach stuffed into her mouth.

Scathach put the struggling Epsilon over her left shoulder and turned to the girl who was getting back on her feet, holding her stomach.

Scathach told them something with a flat voice, and the three girls nodded numbly as they nursed their wounds with pained expressions, while Epsilon renewed her struggles and made more noises through her gag.

Then Scathach turned and reappeared beside Akane. Before Akane could react, she, too, was wrapped around one of Scathach's shoulders, and the Heroic Spirit ran even faster than before the fight.

"Scathach-san, what did you tell them?" asked Akane as she exchanged a glance with the struggling, naked elf.

"That I was taking Epsilon as a hostage and that she wouldn't be harmed. And if Shadow captured one of us, we would be willing to trade." replied Scathach.

They had barely left the city when Scathach suddenly slowed down. And before Akane could ask, the night turned into day.

…

"Stop following me, damn it!" shouted Rin. "Were you a stalker in your previous life?"

Rin was doing everything she could to go faster and delay Shadow. She kept erecting Light barriers in his path, taking shots at him with Gandr, but she was already about twelve kilometers above ground, and Shadow was still coming. his magically reinforced slime outfit just ignored the Gandr shots, and he went around the shields or shattered them outright. They barely slowed him down.

She didn't expect Shadow to answer. In fact, he couldn't even hear her, since they were both moving above the speed of sound.

Shadow was very close now, less than forty meters away. She saw his fingers move, and mana wires spread in her direction.

The wires were only two or three millimeters thick and almost invisible, but Rin could see them as glowing purple lines thanks to her high perception and magic attributes.

It wasn't the first time he tried this, and like before, Rin spotted a temporary gap in the net he was weaving and dove into it, erecting three Light Shields around the edges to stop Shadow from constricting it around her as she passed through.

She had to turn toward him to watch what he would try next, losing some precious speed… and her chest was pierced by a black harpoon of hardened slime linked to Shadow's outfit.

Shadow grinned as he manipulated the slime to enlarge the hooks behind her, making sue she couldn't tear it off her body, and slowly retracted the line.

Rin grunted in agony, and realized the chase was over.

She could have used a Stop Rune to sever the harpoon, then heal herself. But she would have wasted the advantage of surprise only to buy a few more seconds.

Gritting her teeth, she resolved herself to the plan she had thought about when she realized she probably wouldn't be able to escape. She was going to let Shadow cause her a grievous injury, one that would kill anyone for sure, and play dead as her body fell.

Shadow would lose interest in her body and leave, flying down much faster than her body would fall, and with just a bit of luck, he would not notice her healing herself before she lost consciousness.

Even if he cut her in half, even if he beheaded her, she would survive it. As long as her brain was intact, she would be fine.

…That was a lie. She would not be fine. It was going to be painful as hell, and Rin didn't look forward to it. But she would survive.

"You really are a slippery one." said Shadow with approval in his tone, clearly having enjoyed the chase. He created more mana wires and bound Rin firmly, and only stopped retracting his harpoon when she was just two meters from him.

Rin only struggled against the wires to keep up the act. In truth, she didn't think she had enough magic power left to tear them apart and was only conserving enough to heal herself.

"You have shown me many interesting things. I will steal them from your organization soon."

"But I am grateful to you, Rin Tohsaka. Thanks to you, I had a lot of fun."

Shadow's magic power spread in all directions in a radius of several hundred meters, creating mana lines similar to her own magic circuits, and Rin paled as she understood.

She wasn't going to survive this.

[Sorry, Scathach. I'm not going to make it after all. Please take Sakura as your temporary Master and stop her from going after Shadow until she's ready.] thought Rin with regret.

[I will. Noah will revive you, and we will meet again.]

[I hope so!]

Rin took a deep breath and looked straight at Shadow.

"Mark my words, Shadow. You may have defeated me, but you will lose this war you just started. My sister is stronger than me. She will come for you, and she will make you her bitch."

"Yes! You're doing great!" exclaimed Shadow as he barked a laugh. "Those are good lines for a villain that is about to die! Do you have more?"

Rin shook her head, not wanting to humor him.

More of his immense magic power burst from him, and compressed into the blade of his slime sword, who was now shining with intense purple light.

"Well then, this is farewell."

"I…"

"…am…"

"…Atomic." finished Shadow, his voice resonating strangely as if he had whispered into her ear, and Rin's world went white.