The sun bled crimson across the Ōi River, turning the water into molten copper.
Tourists had thinned to a trickle; the famous moon-viewing bridge was almost empty, its wooden planks creaking under the evening wind.
Lanterns flickered on one by one, casting long shadows that danced like spears.
Issei Hyoudou walked in the center, navy haori fluttering, True Excalibur collapsed into its key-chain form at his hip.
To his left, Asia Argento kept pace in a reinforced pink yukata (Rias had insisted on armor-weave after last night's training).
The Boosted Gear gauntlet glowed faintly beneath her sleeve, dragon eyes already half-open.
On his right, Kunou bounced with barely-contained energy, nine tails tucked under an illusion of a normal school satchel, red hakama swishing with every determined step.
They had slipped away from the main group after dinner.
Rias and Sona were still debating politics in the ryokan.
Elysara was busy redecorating Heaven.
This was their mission: recon the bridge, find the ley-line distortion Kunou had sensed, and—if possible—locate the portal the Hero Faction used to kidnap Yasaka.
Kunou stopped dead in the middle of the bridge. Her ears twitched beneath the illusion. "Here," she whispered. "Mama's scent… and something cold. Like metal and death."
Asia's Boosted Gear flared. "Spiritual pressure spike—north bank, thirty meters. It's opening!"
A ripple in reality.
The air tore like wet paper.
White mist exploded outward, swallowing the bridge, the river, the mountains. In seconds the three of them stood inside a perfect replica of Kyoto—except the sky was an endless violet void, and the moon above was cracked in half.
Dimension Lost. Georg's handiwork.
Five figures materialized on the opposite railing.
Cao Cao leaned casually on the True Longinus, its golden tip resting against the wooden planks like a walking stick.
Behind him: Georg in his magician robes, Siegfried with six demonic swords floating at his back, Heracles cracking his knuckles, and Jeanne spinning a holy sword between her fingers.
Cao Cao's smile was polite, almost friendly.
"Hello there… Excalibur's thief?" His eyes slid to Issei's hip. "And you brought the fox princess and the former saint. How considerate."
Kunou snarled, tails bursting free of the illusion. "Where is my mother?!"
"Safe," Cao Cao answered. "For now. We require the ley-line convergence beneath this bridge. The nine-tails was… collateral."
Issei stepped forward, hand on Excalibur. "Let the kid's mom go. Take me instead."
Cao Cao laughed. "Still playing hero. Adorable."
He leveled the True Longinus. "But I came for the sword that should never have been reforged… and for the man who dares walk with a false goddess on his soul."
The spear ignited with divine light.
Battle began in the same heartbeat.
Siegfried moved first—six demonic swords screaming toward Issei like black comets.
Issei's key-chain flashed; True Excalibur unfolded into its full seven-fragment glory, Rapidly activating.
Time slowed to syrup around him. He danced through the blades, Transparency cloaking him for half a second—long enough to appear behind Siegfried and slam an elbow into the man's spine.
Siegfried coughed blood but spun, Twice Critical doubling his strength, catching Excalibur's edge on a seventh blade that materialized from nowhere.
Heracles charged Asia like a runaway train.
"BOOST ×5!"
Asia's gauntlet roared. She sidestepped at the last moment, using the boost to pivot and drive a dragon-enhanced palm into Heracles' solar plexus.
The impact lifted the giant off his feet and hurled him twenty meters into a replica torii gate. Wood exploded.
Jeanne went for Kunou—holy sword singing.
Kunou's tails flared into a nine-layered barrier of azure foxfire.
Jeanne's blade shattered the first three layers but stalled on the fourth.
Kunou grinned ferally and clapped her hands; the broken shards of foxfire turned into needles that rained back on Jeanne, forcing the saintess to retreat behind a wall of hastily summoned blades.
Georg stayed back, fingers weaving mist. The pocket dimension began to compress—air pressure rising, gravity tripling.
Cao Cao walked straight down the center of the bridge, spear twirling lazily.
Issei met him halfway.
Steel met holy spear in a shower of golden sparks.
True Longinus thrust—Issei parried with Excalibur Ruler, forcing Cao Cao's wrist to lock.
"Balance Breaker," Cao Cao said conversationally.
Seven orbs of light detached from the spear—each a different divine miracle.
One became a lion of pure energy, another a storm of light arrows. Issei answered with Phoenix Force: cosmic flames erupted in a spiral, swallowing the lion, turning the arrows to ash.
Asia and Kunou fought back-to-back now.
Heracles recovered, roaring. Asia boosted again—"TRANSFER!"—pouring draconic power straight into Kunou.
The little fox's eyes flashed gold. Her tails multiplied into fifty-four phantom copies; each one spat a spear of compressed foxfire that homed in on Heracles like heat-seeking missiles.
The giant howled as explosions painted the bridge in blue-white fire.
Jeanne tried to flank. Kunou spun, tails forming a flaming tornado that caught Jeanne mid-leap and flung her into the river below—holy sword and all.
Siegfried broke from Issei for a moment, demonic swords turning dragon-slaying silver. He lunged at Asia.
Issei was there in a flash of Rapidly—Excalibur Nightmare flaring. A wave of pure terror slammed into Siegfried, freezing him mid-step.
Issei whispered, "Dragon Slayer," and the second key-chain unfolded into the translucent anti-dragon blade.
One clean slash across Siegfried's chest plate—Balance Breaker shattered, blood spraying. The former hero dropped to one knee, gasping.
Cao Cao's smile finally slipped.
"Enough games."
He raised True Longinus high. The cracked moon above shattered completely; shards of lunar divine power rained down, each fragment a god-killing bullet.
Issei's eyes narrowed. Phoenix Force + Excalibur Destruction fused in his grip—holy sword now wreathed in solar plasma. He raised it like a beacon.
Asia and Kunou slammed their palms together.
"BOOST ×10 — DIVIDE AND TRANSFER!"
White Dragon Emperor power (borrowed from Vali's lingering resonance in the Boosted Gear) split the incoming moon shards, halving their strength again and again until they crumbled into harmless stardust.
Cao Cao stared. "Impossible…"
Issei stepped forward, blade resting on his shoulder. "You wanted the sword? Come take it."
The spear and the sword met once more—this time with the full weight of a goddess-blessed cosmos behind the blade.
The impact cracked the replica bridge in half. Mist began to unravel at the edges; Georg's dimension couldn't contain the output.
Cao Cao leapt back, spear spinning defensively. "This isn't over. Next time I'll bring the full faction."
He snapped his fingers. The five heroes vanished in pillars of light.
The dimension collapsed.
In a blink they were back on the real Togetsukyou Bridge—night wind, real moon, distant temple bells.
Kunou dropped to her knees, panting, tails drooping. "Mama… they still have her…"
Asia knelt beside her, hugging the little fox tight. "We'll get her back. We promise."
Issei sheathed Excalibur, the holy sword shrinking back to key-chain form. Ten empty Master Balls weighed nothing in his inner pocket—still secret, still unused. Tonight hadn't required them.
He looked toward the dark mountains where the real ley-line convergence waited.
"Tomorrow," he said quietly. "We end this."
Under the restored moon, three shadows—one dragon-touched boy, one saint with a dragon's heart, and one tiny nine-tailed princess—walked back toward the lights of Kyoto, ready for war.