The Beheaded laughed. "You're starting to see it now, aren't you?" it boasted.
"The truth of your pitiful existence. You are nothing compared to me."
It raised its sword, cursed energy swirling around it like a mini vortex. "I am the Beheaded," it declared.
"a mere human like you makes me bleed... a toy that happened to bite me."
"Shut up!" Athena shouted, lunging forward without hesitation.
She swung her sword at the demon repeatedly, forcing the Beheaded to parry each strike.
"Pathetic," it sneered, slashing its sword vertically toward her.
But the girl dodged to the side and slashed at the arm that held its weapon!
"Argh—what is this?!" The Beheaded was stunned as its severed arm fell to the ground.
The demon immediately kicked at Athena, but the girl blocked the blow with her blade, sending her flying before she landed steadily on both feet.
The Beheaded growled, frustration boiling inside it as its severed arm began to regenerate.
It reached for the sword lying on the ground.
Its cursed energy flared wildly around its head, glowing with fury and exasperation as it glared at Athena.
"You'll pay for this, you little bitch," it snarled.
"I'll make you regret for ever being born! You'll beg for death!"
It lunged forward, its sword moving with a blur of speed. Athena met the attack head-on, trading blow after blow, her own blade glowing with a dim light.
The clash of their swords echoed across the crater, the sound ringing in their ears.
From Athena's pocket, Mary watched with bated breath, her heart pounding. "Come on, Athena," she whispered. "You can beat it. I know you can."
Athena's blue eyes turned to gold with unknown force of energy that flowing down her veins, sweat dripping from her skin as adrenaline surged through her body.
The Beheaded launched another attack, but Athena sidestepped it effortlessly.
She moved behind it and slashed its back. "GAAH!!" it cried out, spinning around,
then unleashing a wave of cursed energy in retaliation—but Athena leapt back just in time, evading it.
The Beheaded spread its black wings and took to the sky, diving rapidly toward her.
But the girl performed a perfect dodge.
'I can see it! I can see its movements!' she said in her mind, her golden eyes glowing as a strange energy coursed through her, a strange feeling that she never experienced before.
The demon swung its sword in a horizontal arc toward Athena, but she deflected it with a swift parry.
"Gahh!!" Seeing an opening, Athena struck, slicing its abdomen.
The Beheaded staggered backward, shocked. "What?" it gasped. "How...?"
But Athena was relentless, capitalizing on the opening. She leapt forward, her sword tracing an elegant figure-eight in the air.
"Die, you bastard!" she growled.
The Beheaded barely managed to block, but the impact sent it stumbling. "Impossible," it rasped.
"I am the Beheaded! I cannot fall to a mere human!"
It slashed again at Athena—but she dodged effortlessly to the side.
"You wretch—!"
Just as it prepared to launch another attack, an explosive bullet struck it!
"Graahh! What the—?!" it turned toward the source of the shot and saw a red-haired girl grinning.
With its attention diverted, Athena leapt into the air.
She spun above its head, moving like a dancer in the sky, and then—
"Die!" Athena hurled her blade downward, driving it straight through the neck of its headless form and deep into its torso.
The demon froze, its body twitching, the cursed energy at its head wavering like a candle about to be snuffed out.
With one final wet gurgle, it collapsed, black blood pouring from the gaping wound on its neck.
Athena stood beside the corpse, her sword dripping with demonic blood. She was panting, her body soaked in sweat, heart pounding.
Mary peeked out from Athena's pocket, her eyes wide with shock. "Athena!"
The girl looked up, her golden eyes shining with adrenaline and triumph. "We... we won."
The Beheaded's body slowly began to disintegrate, crumbling into dust. A dead demon would soon return to the earth.
Athena looked exhausted. She glanced at her scraped hand, her clothes dirtied and her body bruised from the fierce battle.
She looked toward Lucia, who was running toward her in panic. Athena took a deep breath and raised her eyes to the grey sky.
"ah.."
"I wonder... what is Rena doing right now, eh?.." she muttered to herself, before collapsing and losing consciousness.
As Athena fainted, the world tilted and spun around her.
Darkness.
In her dream, she returned to her old life—school, classmates, the monotony of daily routine.
And the image of her little sister.
"Welcome home,Big Sis!" came the soothing voice of Rena, smiling sweetly as she greeted her after school.
"Rena..." Athena reached for her sister's blonde hair and gently stroked it.
"I'm home... Rena..."