The wind and snow had not yet ceased over the Dragon Fang Arena.
The flames of battle scorched the air, and amidst the relentless clash of illusions and arrows, Hōdō Saya and Yomiya Sō once again locked eyes - an inevitable gaze of destiny.
Yomiya's pupils contracted, his fingers subtly flipped a card, but he did not act. He could sense it - Saya's arrows carried an obsession, a determination to pierce through illusions, a determination beyond mere tactics.
"Why does it have to be you?" he whispered bitterly in his heart.
In this United Club War, he should have been leading the Magic Club, manoeuvring the battlefield without a single mistake.
But she was standing in his way.
Saya's silver hair swayed gently. In the biting wind, she held her bow still - aiming, locking, but hesitant to release her arrow.
There was no killing intent in her eyes.
Only hesitation. Only heartbreak. Only a struggle too deep to utter.
-"Yomiya-kun, I thought I could do it."
Her quiet voice pierced his heart. She remembered that twilight evening when she saw him training alone in the shadows, relentless against the bitter cold. She remembered how he always pushed her away, leaving nothing but distance, silence and a single note that read:
"Stay away from the Magic Club. It's safer for you."
"But you... you kept telling me with your back - don't follow me."
Saya bit her lip, then suddenly raised her bow - "Rift Sky: Phantom Feather!"
The bowstring trembled.
A storm of seven arrows split the air like shooting stars, racing towards Yomiya!
In an instant, he shifted back and scattered his illusion cards - [Seven Shadow Clones].
Seven identical figures flickered in the storm of arrows, illusions shifting, barriers cascading. He wanted to create a perfect dodge, to cut off all emotions from the battlefield.
But Saya closed her eyes.
"You think... I don't know you?"
She put the last arrow on her bowstring and exhaled slowly.
"Yomiya-kun, I... I don't want to run anymore."
"Pale dream: Crimson
Pale Dream: Crimson Soulpiercer".
This arrow was not for victory.
This arrow was awakening.
At that moment, Saya's spiritual realm fully awakened - her arrow shattered the boundaries of illusion and deception, piercing directly into Yomiya's true form, ignoring all visual tricks.
Yomiya's face was drained of colour.
His world lost its hues in an instant. Every lie, every disguise, every deception crumbled under the clarity of her arrow.
He could almost hear it - the sound of his illusions shattering.
"This is not just perception... she has transcended trained skill. This is... resonance."
For the first time, fear gripped him - not of battle, but of losing control.
"I am no longer the fragile girl you once knew."
"I am Hōdō Saya."
That arrow not only shattered Yomiya's defences - it severed the past they had never spoken of.
For the first time, Yomiya really looked at her.
And in that moment, his heart clenched, his breath caught in his throat.
"Saya... you've changed." he murmured.
-Yes. Saya had changed.
She was no longer just an elite archer of the Bow Club. No longer just a girl who silently loved Yomiya from afar.
She had grown through heartbreak, transformed on the battlefield into a hunter who could pierce through illusion and strike at the heart.
And for the first time, Yomiya felt his magic... collapsing from within.
[The Edge of Collapse].
No strategy could hide his feelings now. For so long, he had run away from his feelings, but here, on the battlefield, he was finally cornered.
At that moment, time froze - he stood in the howling snow, staring at the arrow hovering just short of his chest.
It had never struck.
But it had already shattered the cold, indifferent persona he had built.
Saya's arrow had never been meant to wound his body.
Instead, it had pierced his memories.
He remembered - the first deck of magic cards she had given him.
He remembered the warmth of her hands as she handed him a canteen after training.
He remembered - all the times he had told her to stay away, not because he hated her, but because he never wanted her to be caught in this storm of fate.
But now she had answered him with an arrow: "You can't run anymore.
The winds continued to howl.
The United Club War was still raging.
But between Yomiya and Saya, a silent break and connection had already taken root, marking the end of something they could never return to.
[破碎之花 × 崩溃之术]
龙牙场上,风雪未歇.
战火灼烧着空气,一次次幻术与箭影交错的爆裂声中,战场中央,凰堂纱夜与夜见苍的目光,终于再度交汇——那是无法回避的命运注视.
夜见苍瞳孔微缩,手中卡牌悄然翻动,却迟迟没有出手.他能感觉到——凰堂纱夜的箭,带着刺穿幻术的执念,带着某种不属于战术的决意.
"为什么是你."夜见苍心中低语,语气苦涩.
他本该在这场社团联合战中,将魔术部的旗帜高高举起,毫无破绽地操纵战局.
可她站在对面.
纱夜的银发微扬,寒风之中,她举弓不动,瞄准,锁定,却迟迟未发箭.
她的眼中,不是杀意.
是犹豫,是心碎,是无法言说的某种挣扎.
——"夜见君,我本以为自己能做到."
她的心声,无声地在夜见苍心头激起涟漪.她想起那日黄昏,夜见苍独自在训练场影子中苦练幻术,不知被风雪吹了多少个傍晚;也想起他拒绝她的所有靠近,只留下疏远,沉默,和一封写着"别靠近魔术部会更安全"的纸条.
"可你...偏偏一直用背影告诉我,不能追."
纱夜轻咬下唇,忽然扬弓——
"裂空·冥羽."
弓光撕裂长空,箭雨分化为七道流星直袭夜见苍!
刹那间,夜见苍闪身退后,卡牌飞舞,唤出[七影分身],每一道都是他的假身.幻术激荡,迷障翻涌,他企图用最完美的回避,将这份情绪从战场切割出去.
可凰堂纱夜却闭上了眼.
"你以为我...不了解你吗?"
她将最后的箭搭上弦,气息缓缓吐出.
"夜见君,我...已经不想再回避了."
"苍白之梦·绯箭穿魂."
这一箭,并非为胜负.
这一箭,是觉醒.
那一刻,纱夜的精神领域全面开启——她的箭突破了幻觉与幻术的界限,直指夜见苍"真实的本体",不再迷失于任何视觉伪装.
夜见苍脸色剧变.
他的世界仿佛一瞬剥离了颜色,所有虚构,遮蔽,欺骗都在那箭下崩塌.他几乎可以听见,幻术在心中碎裂的声响.
"这不是普通的感知...她的精神共鸣,已超越了训练的领域."他第一次,心底浮现出失控的恐惧.
"我不是你眼中那个脆弱的少女了."
"我,是凰堂纱夜."
这一箭,划破的不只是夜见苍的防御,还有他们之间,那个不能被提起的名字——过去.
夜见苍终于抬头,第一次,眼神中不再只有冷静与算计.
他感到胸口一阵刺痛,几乎无法呼吸.
"纱夜...你变了."他喃喃.
——是的.纱夜变了.
她不再只是弓箭部的精英,也不再只是暗恋夜见苍的少女.
她在心碎中成长,在战场中蜕变,成为能穿透幻术,直击真心的猎手.
而夜见苍,第一次在无声的幻术中...感到自己的术式,开始崩塌.
[崩溃边缘].
战术终究无法遮蔽内心.夜见苍回避了太多情感,却终于在战场上,被逼至精神崩溃的临界点.
那一刻,时间仿佛静止——
他站在风雪中,任由那一道箭光停在胸前的幻术边缘.
未中.
却彻底瓦解了他为自己构筑的"无情之术".
凰堂纱夜的箭没有射穿他的身体,却射进了他的记忆.
记起了——她最初送的那副卡牌,记起了她第一次在练习场为他送水的手心温度,记起了他一次次说出口的"别靠近我",只是为了不让她卷入这场命运的暴风.
可现在,她却用箭告诉他:
——"你已经没办法再逃避了."
风雪中,龙牙场的战斗还未结束,众社团还在碰撞.
可夜见苍与凰堂纱夜之间,那无声的决裂与连接,已悄然在这场对视中落下帷幕.