The night had thickened into a suffocating velvet over the Entertainment District, lanterns casting pale glows that barely pierced the growing shadows. Karina moved silently, her violet eyes sharp, cataloging each alley, each flicker of energy, every subtle tremor that could signify danger. The district itself seemed to pulse beneath her feet, alive with the delicate balance of predator and prey.
Yet something shifted. The subtle currents she had traced all day began to twist unnaturally. Patterns that had been precise moments ago now fractured, corridors bent subtly, and the faint traces of energy beneath the city seemed… warped. Karina's hand instinctively brushed against the hilt of her blade, a small ripple of Arcane energy coursing through her fingers.
Illusions.
Her senses sharpened. Daki had noticed her presence fully now, and the Upper Rank's power was weaving reality into traps. The streets themselves became deceptive, familiar alleyways stretching, bending, or disappearing entirely. Lanterns flickered in impossible patterns, and echoes of laughter twisted into sinister whispers. Each movement Karina had planned now threatened to become perilous.
A figure emerged from the warped shadows, deceptively human yet radiating malice. Daki herself. The crimson kimono shimmered unnaturally in the distorted light, her eyes twin embers of focused intent. "You move with precision, foreign slayer," Daki's voice purred, echoing unnaturally across the streets. "But can you move when the world itself betrays you?"
Karina's stance was fluid, controlled, unbroken. This is the test, she thought. Focus and perception must overcome deception. She inhaled slowly, letting her Arcane senses adjust to the fractured reality, parsing truth from illusion.
Shadows twisted and elongated around her, minor demons flickering in and out of existence, attacking from angles that should not have existed. Karina's blade became an extension of her awareness, shimmering with the faint light of Arcane Breathing.
Third Form: Arcane – Optical Fracture.
Her voice was barely a whisper, yet the effect was immediate. The air around her seemed to shatter into shards, reflections of her presence multiplying and refracting across the distorted streets. Illusions collapsed as the fractures in perception tore apart Daki's manipulations. Minor demons collided with invisible walls, vanishing before they could reach her. The warped streets straightened, the twisted alleyways snapping back into reality.
Daki's eyes widened, a flicker of surprise hidden behind her calm exterior. She sees through it. She bends the illusions back on themselves…
Karina's movements were precise, each step measured, each strike controlled, neutralizing threats as they emerged from the fractured reality. She advanced steadily, her blade a phantom force slicing through shadow, illusion, and the minor demons attempting to capitalize on the chaos.
Tanjiro's voice reached her from behind, steady and urgent. "Karina! I can't—" He stopped, wide-eyed, as the world around him shifted unnaturally. Karina's hand gestured sharply, and he froze instinctively, trusting her control of the battlefield. She had already parsed the layers of deception and identified the real threads of danger.
The illusions faltered, breaking one after another under the force of her technique. Daki stepped back subtly, recalibrating, her predatory instinct recognizing that the foreign slayer was not only capable of perceiving deception but of turning it to her advantage.
Karina's violet eyes scanned the fractured landscape one final time, confirming the dissolution of the illusions. "Deception is a weapon," she murmured. "But reality bends to focus and precision."
Daki's lips curved slightly, almost a smirk. "Impressive," she admitted, voice low. "But this is only the beginning. You survive the illusions… but can you survive what comes after?"
Karina did not answer. Her focus remained unbroken, her body poised for the inevitable escalation. Every shadow, every subtle energy fluctuation, every movement in the district was cataloged. She had endured the first true test of Daki's power, and emerged unbroken.
The weight of illusions had lifted, but the tension in the district remained. Daki now understood that Karina was no ordinary slayer. She was a variable, precise, lethal, and capable of countering even the most insidious manipulations. And Karina, in turn, knew that the Upper Rank's full attention was now fixed upon her.
Above, hidden from sight, Daki's crimson gaze lingered. The battle for dominance had entered a new phase, one in which Karina's skill, perception, and Arcane Breathing would be tested against power older and more cunning than most slayers had ever faced.
And Karina moved forward, every step deliberate, her resolve unwavering. The illusions were gone. The true threat was now fully revealed.