As the golden hand closed around Ayato, the light intensified, radiating an overwhelming brilliance that consumed all in its reach. Ayaka shielded her eyes, the force of the divine energy pushing her back. The air crackled with an unnatural power, the remnants of the throne room dissolving into golden particles, leaving behind an expanse of radiant sky.
Then, silence.
A deep hum resonated through the heavens, and from within the golden hand, something stirred. The fingers of the celestial appendage slowly unfurled, unveiling the reborn figure within. Ayato descended gracefully, no longer the man he once was. His form gleamed with an ethereal glow, his attire transformed into robes of supreme golden nobility, embroidered with intricate, divine sigils. His every step radiated authority, as if the very air bent to his will.
A golden mask, grinning with a smile that adorned it that seemed to be almost mocking, now adorned his face. The red markings beneath his eyes had fused into glowing streaks of holy energy, pulsating with a rhythm unknown to mortals. He extended a hand, fingers idly brushing the empty space as golden ripples echoed outward.
"Ayaka…" His voice carried a serene, yet condescending tone, reverberating through the celestial expanse. "You have always been beneath the grandeur of our bloodline, shackled by meaningless humility. But now…" He spread his arms wide, gesturing to the luminous domain above. "Now you shall witness the truest form of the Kamisato legacy. I have transcended. I have become divine."
Ayaka gritted her teeth, gripping her sword tightly as she steadied herself. "This… this isn't right! You were never meant to lose yourself to this madness!"
Ayato tilted his head, his golden mask reflecting the blinding radiance around them. "Madness?" A chuckle escaped his lips, soft yet laced with chilling finality. "No, dear sister. This is enlightenment."
With a flick of his wrist, the sky itself responded. Holy spears of golden light materialized around him, each radiating divine destruction. "Now then," Ayato mused, raising a single finger towards Ayaka, "let us see if you are worthy to stand before a god."
With an explosion of light, the battle resumed.
Ayaka barely had time to react as the first spear came crashing down, splitting the sky with its radiant force. She sidestepped, ice forming beneath her feet as she propelled herself forward, closing the distance between her and Ayato. She slashed upward, her sword leaving a trail of frozen mist in its wake. But before it could reach him, Ayato vanished, his form flickering out of existence in a burst of golden sparks.
"Too slow," his voice whispered from behind her.
Ayaka spun just in time to parry a descending golden blade, Ayato's strike carrying a force that sent her skidding backward across the sky itself. The very air beneath them had become their battlefield, solidified by divine will and sheer elemental mastery.
"Impressive," Ayato remarked, his voice laced with amusement. "But still far from enough."
He raised his hand once more, and golden glyphs flared to life around him. From their centers emerged ethereal warriors, each donned in radiant Kamisato regalia, their masks mirroring his own. They stood in perfect formation, weapons drawn, awaiting his command.
Ayaka exhaled, gripping her sword tighter. She closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them with renewed resolve. The air around her grew colder, the icy mist coiling around her like a living entity.
"Then I'll cut through them all!" she declared, dashing forward.
The first of the golden warriors lunged, but Ayaka met it head-on, her blade flashing in the light. Ice clashed against divine gold as she weaved between their strikes, her movements honed through years of discipline. One by one, the warriors fell, shattering into shards of holy light. But as she struck down the last of them, Ayato had already moved.
A searing pain shot through Ayaka's side as a golden blade pierced her defenses, sending her spiraling through the sky. She barely managed to recover, gasping as she pressed a hand against the wound. Ayato hovered above, the golden glow surrounding him intensifying.
"Do you see now, Ayaka?" His voice was calm, yet brimming with authority. "Struggle all you want, but mortals cannot defy divinity."
Ayaka wiped the blood from her lips, her icy breath fogging the air around her. "Then I'll show you… that even gods can bleed."
She raised her blade once more, the frost around her intensifying. A flurry of snowflakes began to spiral outward, forming a massive storm that surged towards Ayato with unrelenting fury.
Ayato's golden form glowed ever brighter in reaction to this. He extended a single hand, and with an effortless motion, he dispersed the incoming frost storm as though brushing away a mere inconvenience. The winds that once howled with Ayaka's might now crumbled into nothingness before his divine radiance.
"You persist in vain," Ayato declared, his voice both regal and disdainful. "The Kamisato family was shackled by tradition, weighed down by outdated ideals. But no more. Under my divinity, the name Kamisato will rise anew—no longer a household of honor, but one of unquestionable supremacy."
Ayaka's hands trembled around her sword, her breath ragged. "You're wrong… our family was never meant to rule with force. We were meant to guide, to protect."
Ayato scoffed. "Protection? Guidance? Empty words spoken by those too weak to seize true power." He extended his hand, golden light forming into a celestial blade, far grander than before. "I have no need for the weak. The old ways have no place in my world."
He vanished in a flash, appearing before Ayaka in an instant. His blade came down, the force of his strike shattering the sky itself. Ayaka raised her sword, but the impact sent a deafening shockwave through the heavens, knocking her downward in a spiral of ice.
She crashed onto an unseen surface of condensed air, coughing violently. Every part of her body ached, her strength waning. Yet she pushed herself up, her sword trembling in her grip. "I won't… let you erase everything we stood for…"
Ayato loomed above her, raising his blade high. "Then face the end clinging to your foolish delusions."
Golden energy swirled around him as divine symbols ignited in the sky. The heavens trembled beneath his power, and with a final, decisive strike, a pillar of golden light erupted, threatening to consume Ayaka entirely.
But in the face of overwhelming radiance, Ayaka did not falter.
Drawing upon the last reserves of her strength, she focused every ounce of her icy will into a single counterstrike. Her sword glowed with an icy brilliance, its edge sharper than ever before. As Ayato's divine strike descended, Ayaka surged forward, her blade meeting his in a final, desperate clash.
For a moment, time itself seemed to stand still.
The clash of divine gold and unyielding ice sent shockwaves rippling across the celestial battlefield. Ayaka's vision blurred, her arms trembling under the sheer force of Ayato's power. The very fabric of their realm cracked under the weight of their clash.
Ayato, watching from behind his golden mask, felt the resistance of her blade but remained unmoved. "A noble effort," he murmured, pressing forward, his strength endless. "But this is where your defiance ends."
As the heavens themselves seemed to bow before him, Ayaka let out one final, determined cry, pouring everything she had left into a last strike that would decide the fate of their battle.
She grit her teeth, her heart pounding against her ribs. If this was to be her final stand, then she would make it one to be remembered. A freezing mist coiled around her, her blade becoming one with the very essence of winter itself. Her breath came in ragged bursts, her body screaming for rest—but she refused to listen.
With one last cry, she unleashed everything—every ounce of her will, every last fragment of her soul—into a final strike!
"I WON'T LET THIS STAND-"
Ayato grabbed the tip of her blade with no effort.
No effort at all.
Through the golden mask of Ayato that looked back at her with a smile, she could almost feel the pity that transcended it.
"This is the end Ayaka."
"A-Ayato..?" Ayaka muttered out as the last shred of hope that she wad was now lost...
Ayato broke Ayaka's weapon firmly in his hand as its blade fell to the floor.
"And with that...The last shred of your own hope and existence...is over..."
Ayaka approached the edge of where the sky would be as all hope was lost.
No reason to continue.
No reason to live.
No reason to fight.
No will.
"Come back to me when you have found your precious little honor again."
Ayaka would fall down the same skies she fought on as she willingly let herself fall below.
"...A sad end." Ayato muttered.