Memories were fleeting to the immortal; she could try holding on to it, but it always remained slippery.

Freya felt an ache from her upper right arm.

Face to face against her in the sanctum’s hall, Freya at the entrance and Kokuri under the statues, the pain reminded her of her carelessness against her.

Immortal… Freya thought.

***

At the time before the Stormpiercer was forced to set sail by the monster worshippers, Freya had encountered Kokuri on the deck.

‘One chance,’ she had offered with a grin.

‘…’

Freya had interpreted the words as Kokuri’s challenge to slash her. Looking back, judging from her opponent’s fearlessness upon offering a slash, she should have noticed that something was off. However, looking at Kokuri, Freya was distracted by a feeling of—familiarity.

‘Have I met you before?’ she asked, her hand wandered to her shoulder.

‘…’ Kokuri stared at Freya, her pitch-black eyes turned from madness to murderous anger. It was not her words, but her gesture that had caused such change in Kokuri. ‘Forget your one chance.’

Kokuri slipped out a kunai from under her sleeve, coated it with darkness Elemental Magic, and threw it toward Freya.

Freya ducked to the side, dodging the kunai and the darkness surrounding. Without wasting time, she unsheathed Celeste with her left hand. She had Celeste on her waist’s left side; thus, when the sword was unsheathed, she held Celeste with a reversed grip.

Not a preferred method to hold the sword; especially when her opponent was closing in with another kunai in her grip, coated with darkness.

Aware of her opponent’s kunai swing, coming from Freya’s left, she swayed her body to the left and dodged the kunai. Parts of the darkness that brushed her was dispelled.

Whilst in her maneuver, Freya had let go and re-gripped the handle, holding Celeste with a normal, non-reversed, grip.

Following the motion of her sway, blade raised from below, Freya unleashed a diagonal slash that fully connected to Kokuri’s torso. A curtain of crimson rose; her opponent bled a surge of blood, more than what was humanely possible to lose to sustain life.

Had Freya not believed that Kokuri was dangerous, she wouldn’t have inflicted this fatal wound. However, from her first impressions, and judging from the colors she perceived, Kokuri had a color of death: an ominous purplish black.

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Thinking that the battle was over, for no mere opponent could have survived that, Freya had become lax. She had anticipated Kokuri falling lifelessly onto the deck’s wooden floorboard, but the thud never came. She glanced to the side and saw her opponent swinging her kunai.

Not foreseeing this attack, Freya couldn’t dodge in time. The kunai landed on her upper right arm, inflicting a sharp pain, and claiming blood.

It was a damage she had sustained due to her carelessness.

***

‘…’

Freya glanced away from Kokuri; onto the spot under the statues, where the immortal had claimed to have finished writing a Formulae Magic. There, she could see the color of death, same as Kokuri’s, but thicker.

That can’t be anything good, she thought.

Freya then shifted her glance toward the unsheathed Celeste, gripped with her left; pointed toward the ground.

Try to hold on.

Nothing more to see, Freya brought her attention back to Kokuri. In response to her opponent’s grin, she let out a smile. Not because she looked forward to this, but because she found this situation ridiculous. It seemed as if their battle was unavoidable. As if they were meant to fight each other.

‘You never answered my question,’ Freya said. Even now, she couldn’t get rid of her sense of familiarity toward Kokuri. ‘Have we met before?’

‘On the ship.’

‘Before that.’

‘… Perhaps.’ A vague answer. ‘I’ve forgotten many people. But that’s irrelevant.’

Ending the short conversation with her action, Kokuri pulled a kunai from inside her kimono, coated it with darkness, and threw it toward Freya.

Like the time on the ship, Freya ducked to the side and dodged. Except, this time, it was Freya who closed the distance: by dashing toward Kokuri.

Perhaps the sense of familiarity is because this body remembers, Freya thought. It could be that Ori is familiar with her.

She had seen part of Ori’s memories when the Stormpiercer was submerged. Therefore, it wouldn’t be odd or impossible that perhaps Ori’s feeling of familiarity toward Kokuri had seeped onto her. Perhaps the voice she had been hearing was caused by Ori’s memories.

Kokuri took out another kunai, coated it with darkness Elemental Magic, but couldn’t throw it.

Freya had closed the distance and now Kokuri was within Celeste’s range.

Amethyst met pitch-black.

But she was enraged upon looking at my gesture.

Kokuri swung her kunai toward Freya.

As far as Freya knew, her habit of placing a hand on her shoulder—was not a habit that Ori had. In fact, it had even been foreign to Elaine, judged by her reaction, at least. Since Kokuri had responded toward that gesture, then…

The kunai swing came from Freya’s left. She swayed to the left and dodged the attack. As she was about to deliver a counter, she observed the immortal.

She must be someone I’m familiar with. Someone who…

‘You’re someone who know me,’ Freya concluded.

Following the motion of the sway, blade raised from below, Freya unleashed a diagonal slash.

Kokuri stepped backward and dodged.

It makes sense.

With the information that Freya possessed, the conclusion she came toward was the most logical. Kokuri must be someone who had known Freya, or to be more exact the person she was before becoming Freya.

Freya stepped forward, chasing Kokuri.

Successful in maintaining her range, Freya swung Celeste horizontally from the left.

This opponent in front of me—

Ever since she was Freya, she always questioned who she actually was. Always wondered but couldn’t search, for dealing with the curse she carried took priority.

Celeste connected and inflicted a cut on Kokuri’s upper left arm.

The immortal grunted in pain.

—has an answer I’m looking for.