Juno took a slow step back, then laughed—genuinely, cheerfully, like a kid finding a hidden treasure.
"I've been waiting," he said, eyes shimmering with that same violet burn. "Waiting for someone strong."
He raised his hand with a light grin.
"The name's Juno."
Before his name could settle in the air, Iri cut in, waving her hand dismissively. "Yeah, cool name, love it—why are you attacking me?!"
Niko, who had been watching the exchange with furrowed brows, tried to keep up. "Wait, he attacked you?"
Juno placed a hand over his heart dramatically. "I didn't attack. I introduced myself… energetically."
Iri groaned. "Oh great, another lunatic."
Juno smiled, eyes burning brighter. "I've heard the stories. The White Ghost who lives in the silent city. Who carries generational power in her blood. They say she might be as strong as the Ten."
Iri blinked. "White what—?"
Then her face lit up with realization, mixed with exasperation. "OHHHH. You're one of those nutcases who climbed the ladder talking about 'slaying the White Ghost,' huh? You people just don't quit."
Niko raised an eyebrow. "So this isn't the first?"
"Please. It's like a trend now." She cracked her knuckles. "Let's wrap this up, I'm not in the mood for—"
But before she could finish, Juno was already moving.
His body twisted low, dancing into a strike with shocking speed—his small frame launching upward in a tight arc, his hand nearly grazing her cheek as Iri jerked her head back just in time.
"Whoa—!" she gasped, caught off guard by his sudden shift in speed and intent.
Niko's eyes widened. "Iri!"
She wasn't listening. Her feet slid across the ground as she deflected another blow, teeth clenched in disbelief.
This wasn't just some obsessed fan.
This kid—Juno—could fight.
"Guess you're not bluffing," she muttered.
Juno grinned, bouncing lightly on his heels. "Why would I bluff? I came to fight the White Ghost."
…
Niko's eyes darted back and forth, trying desperately to follow their movements. Iri and Juno blurred and clashed like sparks colliding in a storm—each step, each strike, too fast, too precise. It was like watching lightning strike over and over again. No runes. No inscriptions. No flashy powers.
Just raw speed, instinct, and power.
"How are they… even doing that?" Niko whispered to himself, jaw tightening.
For a moment, he just stood there—useless.
This… this must be how the real House is, he thought. Not the wandering or the hiding, not the talking or the running… just strength. Pure strength.
The thought hit hard. It hit deep.
He wasn't there.
He wasn't them.
But then something in him burned. Niko clenched his fists, his jaw setting stubbornly. "No," he muttered. "I'm not just gonna stand here—I'll help. Iri's strong but—she's not alone."
He pushed off his foot, ready to move—
And froze.
Cold.
It wasn't wind or energy. It was a presence. A gaze.
Something unseen, something buried, was staring directly at him—coiling around his spine like a shadowy serpent. His body locked. His instincts screamed. Something wasn't letting him go.
His breath caught.
Juno… while fighting… was watching him?
It wasn't just strength. Juno was playing with both of them—one in a fight, and the other like a pawn waiting to be shut down.
Niko didn't know how, but it was there. A silent warning, like a whisper wrapped in dread:
Move, and you die.
His legs wouldn't budge.
His heart pounded.
He'd never felt so alive… or so powerless.
Juno wasn't just fighting Iri.
He was controlling the field.
And Niko? Niko was just starting to realize how far behind he really was.
Juno's grin stretched ear to ear, his eyes wide with excitement, those black irises flickering with a faint, violet glint. Iri dashed back, sliding to a stop as dust and sparks skidded under her bare feet. She rolled her neck and cracked her knuckles with a sigh.
"Alright," she said, brushing a lock of silver-grey hair from her face, "time to up it a notch."
Juno's smile sharpened, practically glowing. "Don't ya think?" he echoed, voice practically singing with adrenaline.
Then, with a surge of thick, dark energy spiraling around his arm, Juno raised one hand forward. Slowly, he hovered his other hand above it, fingers curling like he was gripping something unseen. Then he dragged his hand downward in a slow, deliberate motion—
Like unsheathing a blade from the air itself.
SHHHING.
And there it was.
A blade formed entirely of shadow, almost like a compact katana. Black as night, edge humming with dark pulses of energy, its faint purple shine reflected in Juno's eyes.
Iri raised a brow. "Huh. Cute."
She didn't waste another second. Her hand lifted—and a rune burst to life in a blinding blink of light, floating in the air beside her. The inscription carved into it read simply: EXTREME SPEED.
FWUMP.
She vanished.
Juno's eyes widened—then gleamed.
CLANG–CLANG–CLANG!
They were a blur. Juno slashed in a flurry, blade cutting with tight, elegant arcs—but Iri was there for every one, arms moving faster than thought. Parry, counter, slip left, dodge right. Her movements weren't wild—they were dancing. Controlled chaos.
Juno laughed, his voice ringing out through the hallway like a bell in a storm.
"Man, you're fun!"
Their shadows whipped along the walls. Sparks cracked the air with each hit. Neither had landed a decisive blow yet, but it wasn't just a fight anymore.
It was a game.
Two monsters hiding in human skin, smiling as they pushed each other higher.
Juno ducked beneath Iri's sweeping kick, twisted mid-spin, and flipped over her shoulder like a whisper of smoke—serpentine, precise. In midair, his blade flicked forward—tap, tap, tap—aiming for her pressure points with pinpoint speed. Iri barely managed to twist her torso, letting the blade scrape her sleeve but miss her heart.
Then, with a grin full of mischief, Juno flipped backward, landing in a crouch—and swiped his blade through the air.
A sudden arc of dark energy exploded from the katana, slicing forward like a crescent of pure night.
Iri leaned, barely dodging the blade as it carved the space beside her. Her foot hit the floor—and she appeared in front of him in a blink.
Her hand gripped his cloak.
"Huh?" Juno's eyes blinked wide.
She smirked, then hurled him upward.
As his body soared into the air, another rune burst to life beside her hand—glowing in radiant white:
FLICK OF ABSOLUTE STRENGTH
Her fingers twitched—and with it, a burst of force like a giant's punch launched from her palm.
BOOOM!
It slammed into Juno's chest midair, sending him flying down like a meteor. The hallway shook as he crashed into the ground, an explosion of dust and shattered tile erupting from the crater he made.
For a second—Iri just floated downward, arms folded lazily, descending through the smoke and broken air.
But then—
The shadows on the walls twitched.
Shifted.
Moved.
They stretched—lengthening into long, black limbs, gaining weight and shape, taking form like ink spilling into sculpture.
Dozens of them.
All of them—Juno.
Shadow clones of him, small and agile, rushed up the walls and across the ceiling like a dark wave. As Iri descended, they swarmed her mid-fall—blades drawn, smiles wide, the sound of crackling darkness filling the air like a chorus of whispered laughter.
Iri's eyes narrowed. She clenched her fists.
"Oh, you're that kind of annoying," she muttered.
Then she vanished again—into the heart of the storm.
As Iri landed—so did they.
Dozens of Juno-shaped shadows crashed down with her, moving like a synchronized nightmare. They didn't hesitate. No banter. No warning. Just an instant barrage—blades flashing, hands swinging, feet kicking—every strike aiming to overwhelm, to crowd, to end it.
Iri gritted her teeth, caught in the storm.
"Tch—"
And then—whoomph.
Two glowing runes burst to life behind her.
One floated just above her shoulder—FLIGHT—glimmering with upward motion.
The other hovered at her side, spinning in a perfect ring—ARSENAL—a golden circle filled with shifting silhouettes of blades, spears, war fans, and unfamiliar tools built for war.
Without delay, Iri kicked off the ground, wings of energy flaring from her back, lifting her above the swarm.
At the same time—shkk!
Her hand plunged into the Arsenal rune.
She pulled out a short scythe—sleek and serrated—swung it in a tight spiral, slashing back three shadows at once. Then she dropped the scythe midair and immediately pulled another—this time a spiked flail, spinning it once and smashing a group away with brutal force.
Every move flowed into the next—jump, swing, pull, toss—combo after combo.
The shadows tried to follow—but her tempo was rising.
Another sword. A chakram. A spear with a jagged head. Each one used for a second, then discarded mid-fight, replaced by something deadlier.
Above the chaos, her eyes gleamed with momentum.
"Come on, clones," she said under her breath, smirking, "keep up."
And below, the shadows struggled to close in again—but now, the hunter was airborne.
Juno rose from the crater, brushing dust from his cloak, his black eyes—tinted violet—locked on the fight above.
His clones were losing.
Getting torn apart, weapon by weapon. The rhythm Iri had built was relentless—too fast, too unpredictable. Even the shadows couldn't keep up.
He scoffed, half-amused, half-thrilled. "Alright," he muttered, stretching his neck as a crack echoed from it. "Let's dial it up."
With a shoom of compressed dark energy, he vanished.
In an instant—he was above her.
"Rapid Fang!" he shouted, his body spinning midair like a drill.
From his blade, sharp crescents of darkness erupted, slicing toward her in a spiral. The air shook as they hit, spikes imploding in a storm of black bursts. The whole sky seemed to shatter around the impact point.
But Juno's grin faltered.
It felt too easy.
And then—poof.
The smoke cleared.
Floating in place, not a scratch on her, was a glowing rune.
Its inscription read: CLONE.
Juno's eyes widened slightly. "Hah… sneaky," he whispered, grinning again.
Behind him—
"Too slow," Iri's voice cut through the air like a whisper and a warning.
He spun—just in time to block her knee with his forearm, but the impact sent him rocketing backward through the sky.
She was already there before he even recovered, another weapon in hand—this time a pair of curved daggers.
Juno's boots skimmed the air, steadying him as Iri came in fast—daggers flashing in a brutal rhythm. Every strike was met, every slash countered, parried, dodged. But she wasn't the only one adapting.
Juno's clones moved with him now—perfect sync. A feint from one would blend into a real strike from another. Their movements blurred together, a dance of shifting shadows and sharp steel.
Iri twisted midair, blades meeting each clone with expert precision—but something was off.
Her lungs felt heavier. Her arms just a bit slower. She flipped back, breathing a little harder than expected.
Her eyes narrowed.
Then it hit her.
The closer Juno got… the more drained she felt.
Her energy wasn't vanishing—it was bleeding. Funneling into him. The shadows weren't just illusions—they were siphons. Tiny tethers feeding off her stamina, her motion, her power.
Above her, Juno's grin only widened. He didn't say a word, but his silence said everything.
He knew.
And he assumed she knew too.
Still, Iri just scoffed, wiping a trickle of blood from her cheek.
"Cute trick," she muttered, and her chest glowed faintly—a pulse from deep within her core. Massive reserves of power, coiled like a sleeping beast, ready to burn.
She wasn't done. Not even close.
Juno moved.
He dashed forward in a blink, one hand stretched out, dark energy coiling like a vortex around his palm. In the other, his katana hummed with a low, pulsing whine.
He reached her—thrust his glowing palm toward her chest—
Boom.
A pulse of black force exploded point-blank.
The blast tore through the sky, blowing Iri backwards like a ragdoll—slamming her through air and wind, her body a streak of light crashing toward the ground.
Toward—
"Niko—!" she shouted mid-flight.
Niko barely had time to react, bracing himself as Iri smashed into the dirt just feet from him, kicking up a wave of dust and debris.
Juno floated high above, blade resting over his shoulder.
And then—he saw it.
A single rune hovered above the area where Iri was hit, glowing faintly.
BLOCK.
His eyes widened for half a second—then he burst out laughing.
"This is fun!"