Kouhei and Nagisa hurried back the moment they heard that Yuzuha had shown up at the mansion. Their steps were quick, almost too heavy against the ground, like their own bodies were trying to match the rising tension in their chests.
"Kouhei, you're here," Hina called out as soon as she spotted him.
She was standing just outside the mansion with Kozue and the others, her expression tight, almost as if she was forcing herself to stay calm. It was kind of surprising to see her , considering she always had been emotionless.
"What's going on? Where's Yuuna-san?" Kouhei asked, his voice sharper than usual, the unease bleeding through no matter how much he tried to keep it steady.
"For now, Yuuna is trying to deescalate things by talking to Yuzuha," Hina explained, her tone steady but her eyes betraying worry. "You don't have to panic. Aria and Sakurako are inside with her, so she'll be safe."
Her words were meant to reassure him, but Kouhei still felt the weight in his chest tightening. Even if Yuuna had Aria and Sakurako by her side, it didn't erase the danger. Still, he had to trust her. He knew Yuuna could handle situations with a level of calm and precision he couldn't replicate if he just rushed in blindly. For now, he had to believe in her.
Inside the mansion, Yuuna stood face to face with Yuzuha, whose entire body radiated instability. She looked like a storm on the verge of breaking loose, eyes wild, with her whole frame trembling with something dark and violent.
"It looks like your mind is still tangled up with the illusions Yuka planted in you, Yuzuha," Yuuna said calmly, though her eyes were sharp and watching every twitch of Yuzuha's movements. "Don't you think it's enough already? You must understand by now that you've been cursed."
Yuzuha's gaze flickered, but she didn't falter. Whatever clarity she had, it was buried under rage and madness.
"I don't feel anything except the urge to kill him. Isn't that simple enough for you to understand?" she snapped, her voice rising, thick with venom.
Her eyes gleamed like she had lost every bit of reason. Yuka's illusion magic—so often dismissed as weak—had twisted Yuzuha this far. That alone showed how terrifyingly effective it could be.
The more deeply rooted the trauma, the sharper Yuka's magic dug in. That was the nature of her power. It preyed on the scars that never healed, turning them into chains that bound the mind. And Yuzuha… her trauma had to be immense. Or maybe it wasn't just trauma—maybe it was guilt, heavy enough to drown her completely.
"As long as he's alive, Nagisa will always be in danger. Isn't it better to end the root cause before it brings more harm?" Yuzuha's voice cracked slightly, but her eyes never softened. "You know this, Yuuna-sama. You understand it. He might not be a threat right now, but one day, he'll turn against you."
Yuuna's brows furrowed. "And what proof do you have to justify something so outrageous?"
"I-I saw it. I saw it with my own two eyes!" Yuzuha's voice shook with conviction, but her body trembled as if even she didn't fully believe it.
"As I already told you, that's just Yuka breaking your mind," Yuuna pressed. "You're not seeing reality—you're trapped in an illusion and forced to stare at your worst fears."
"I-I saw it… I saw it…!" Yuzuha's voice rose to a scream, raw and shaking. "He killed her! I won't let him kill her!"
Her words spilled out in broken fragments, her mind clearly fractured. Yuuna's chest tightened. She could see it now that Yuzuha was too far gone with her grip on reality slipping completely.
But even in this madness, something about her words gnawed at Yuuna. She kept speaking of someone, someone she felt desperate to protect. Someone she felt guilty about.
And then Yuzuha had said… she wanted to protect Nagisa from Kouhei.
Wasn't Yuzuha the one who betrayed the entire high oni clan? The one who murdered them all—including Nagisa's parents? Wasn't she the reason Nagisa's life had been nothing but misery and suffering?
So why now? Why act like she cared? Why act like a parent trying to shield her?
Unless… unless everything they thought they knew was incomplete. Unless, beneath all that bloodshed, Yuzuha had been trying to protect Nagisa all along.
No. That's ridiculous. That's impossible. There was no way Yuzuha had done anything for Nagisa's sake.
And yet… the thought still lingered, uncomfortable and sharp. Yuuna couldn't ignore it completely.
"W-Why…? Why can't you understand?" Yuzuha's voice broke, her teeth clenched hard enough to draw blood from her lip. "I left her with you. I was relieved, happy even, knowing she was in your care. I thought she'd be safe with you. But now, you're just… you're just so easily swayed by someone you've only known for a year!"
A year. Barely even that.
To them—beings who lived long, almost eternal lives—one year was like a single fleeting moment. Nothing. To humans, a year was already a lifetime of trust. But to demons like Yuuna and Yuzuha, it was barely a blink.
"It doesn't matter when I met him, Yuzuha," Yuuna shot back, her tone firm and steady. "He's the one I love. And Nagisa loves him too. So if you're really set on killing Kouhei-kun, then we'll have no choice but to stop you. I never imagined you'd lose control —without even speaking to your master first. Souichiro doesn't know anything about this, does he?"
Yuzuha said nothing. But that silence was louder than words. She was acting alone.
"Kouhei-kun is our leader," Yuuna continued. Her voice rang sharp in the air, carrying weight. "Anyone who comes for his life comes for all of us."
"It's fine, Yuuna-san," a new voice said.
Kouhei stepped into the room.
Not one of them—not Yuuna, not Aria, not even Yuzuha—had noticed his approach. His presence was masked so perfectly that he had been standing just outside their awareness all along.
"When did he—?" Yuuna's eyes widened. Even Sakurako, who prided herself on her ability to sense anyone, had missed him.
But Aria only smiled faintly. She already knew. She had taught him. Kouhei had absorbed her lessons like water into a sponge, mastering it with shocking speed.
The truth was, he'd been there the whole time. Listening. Watching. He wanted to hear the truth from Yuzuha herself.
"I'll grant you your duel, Yuzuha-san," Kouhei said, his voice steady, his eyes locking onto hers. The air around him felt heavy and decisive. "If you win, you can kill me. But if I win… then you'll tell me the truth. About Nagisa-san."
Behind him, Nagisa stood with a bloodlust so strong it radiated like heat off her body, her eyes drilling into Yuzuha with murderous intent.
Yuzuha bit her lip until it bled.
There was a reason Kouhei was willing to do this, even if it meant risking his life.
Because no matter what she said, no matter how sharp her glare looked—he couldn't feel any bloodlust from Yuzuha at all.
And that was enough to make him want to know why.
They stepped into the courtyard of the mansion.
The courtyard had always been the place where Kouhei trained with Aria and Hina.
It was wide enough for all of them to practice together without running out of space.
But today, the training grounds weren't meant for practice. Today, they were meant for something else.
A complete duel between the two of them.
Yuzuha, who had played a big part in the war and had lost together with Souichiro—who in turn had fallen to Nagisa—stood a little apart from Kouhei.
Kouhei, as always, had a blade with him. But for some reason, he felt no need to use it this time.
He was confident he could win without a blade.
He already knew that much. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ ɴovelfire.net
Still, he wasn't careless. He wasn't discarding the thought that defeat was possible, so he kept himself ready.
And since Yuzuha was more of a fighter than a sword wielder, he wanted this fight to be fair, face-to-face with no weapons.
"Are you sure about this, Kouhei-kun?" Yuuna asked.
She didn't sound worried at all.
Kouhei had already shown miracles and left everyone in awe plenty of times before, so this fight wasn't something that shook her nerves anymore. He carried himself with enough confidence that it almost felt like victory was already leaning his way.
Still, there was always the chance Yuzuha was hiding something, and it was only natural for Yuuna to be a little cautious.
"Yes," Kouhei replied. "I want to know… about her."
Yuuna blinked in surprise at his words, but then again, this was typical of him. Kouhei always sought understanding, always wanted to reach out. He wanted to understand the woman named Yuzuha, and why she carried such suffering.
And right now, there was no better way to find that answer than through a duel.