"Let us begin..."

Louise begins her advance, swinging her sword down which I dodged by stepping to the side, but then she quickly brandished her knife which hits the crystal hard armor I wore.

In order to counter her, I hit her with my shield, and attempted to swing my sword down, but she blocked it using her own before kicking me.

I was sent back, but I managed to balance myself as to not fall into the abyss. I took a sip from my flask, before I made a stance with my sword, which made my shield melt away since I focused all my power in the sword.

Flying over to her, she thrusts her knife at me which I dodged, by using my time element to fast travel to the space above her, and I swing the sword down onto her, sending her falling down below.

"Flying thrust attack, level 2."

Afterwards I let my sword melt, and I conjure a bolt of lightning on my right hand before throwing it down below to the defenseless Louise. It hit her, causing her to tremble from the shock.

She then floated there, lifeless.

"Turns out she isn't even worth of a challenge..."

"Wait, Cirno-Chan! That ghastly aura is still there with her!"

I see the aura seeping into Louise's body, and she slowly raised her body, balancing herself in the dark space.

She looked up, at me. She reveals her glowing eyes, underneath her hat. She growls lightly, before she floated back up and made another stance.

She crouches down, like she's about to pounce. I shielded myself with my sword as she then blasts off in an unbelievable speed that I couldn't react to it in time. She manages to thrust her knife onto my armor which then breaks due to how hard the crystallized ice, which is the material my armor is from, is.

Afterwards I try to swing my own sword but she dodged to the side, and I feel a hard object hitting me on the back of my head. Afterwards, I can feel her sword slashing the back of my armor which is weaker than the front, shattering it and the armor fell off from my body, into the endless dark space.

But losing the armor made my movement much more faster as well. I spun around, and I manage to swing my sword once only to lock blades with her. I kicked her away, breaking her guard a bit before I charged forward with a heavy downward slash to her.

Of course she countered, by holding her sword with both hands, and parried my attack by pushing the sword off from her direction. She then thrust the sword forward and...

I feel a tingle. I looked down a bit to see the blade has penetrated my neck, and I held it for a moment, before looking at Louise in disbelief.

I fell backwards, as I see my life flash and my senses went numb. In the distance I could hear Daiyousei's faint screams, shouting my name.

I close my eyes, and everything went dark. When I opened them, I find myself back at the campfire just before the ledge that leads to the huge dark space.

How can I beat someone that fast...? After thinking for a moment and opening a magic box which Hijiri (secretly) gave me to store my items, I see something glowing inside. It's one of those stone cherries, and upon closer inspection I see the body of Aya Shameimaru, the fastest being in Gensokyo... A Tengu.

I had the urge to chant, and I did.

"Summoning sign - Aya Shameimaru!"

And the stone glows brightly, before the light materializes into a black haired girl wearing a tengu tokin hat.

"Ara...? Cirno, what are... Where are we?"

"Aya-San... I need your help for a moment. Your speed can be helpful for this."

"What? I don't know what's happening, but I'm in."

The both of us then flew into the space, until we see Louise, holding Daiyousei in a chokehold.

"Let her go!"

Louise growled in a low tone before she points her sword at me.

"So she's the opponent? Alright then!"

Aya then flew forwards, holding her fan and swings it once, causing a huge wave of wind to blow towards Louise. The wind strength is enough for her to unhand Daiyousei, and send her flying far behind. However Aya kept chasing after her, until a blade goes through her neck, and it protruded on it's back.

Louise recovered, and managed to counter attack Aya at the very last second. However she didn't know that I have something as well.

"Light Sign - Immortality Severance!"

I dashed forwards, with Roukanken on both of my hands, and I swing it once, as Aya glows in a bright light.

The light blinded the rest of us, and when it faded we see...

That my blade has decapitated Louise. Her head was sent floating across the space before it and the rest of her body broke down into cinders.

And when I looked at where Aya used to be, I see that she has returned into being a stone cherry. I grabbed it, and put it inside my magic box.

"Cirno-Chan... You're alright!"

I heard Daiyousei calling out, and I turned around to face her, only for her to gasp and shake in fear.

"What's wrong?"

"Cirno-Chan... Your left eye... It's glowing!"

Conjuring a mirror of ice, I looked to see that my left eye is indeed glowing and it's sclera is black.

"Dai... We might have a problem."

"W... What is it?"

"My soul... I think it's beginning to darken."

- To Be Continued