'... I didn't ask for this, you know?'

A familiar sounding female voice woke Freya up. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed her knees touching the ground and her right shoulder leaning on a wall. She understood that, for a fraction of a moment, she had gone unconscious from the impact of Vath's blow.

Instinctively, her eyes searched for Celeste; still in her grip and unbroken. I can still—fight, Freya thought.

'For all my life, I can't seem to escape from destiny.' Again Freya heard a voice. A familiar female voice that she often heard. Her voice. Freya's...

Freya peeked through the gap of her violet hair. In front of her was a female figure with the same violet hair and amethyst eyes and face. Another Freya. Am I—seeing things again?

Upon closer inspection, Freya noticed that behind the other Freya—who was crouching in front of her—was Vath. The battle wasn't over. Reminded of it, Freya passed Celeste to her left hand and stood up slowly with her shoulder leaning on the wall for support. When she managed to stand, she pointed Celeste at Vath.

'Why do you still fight?' Vath asked.

'That's a good question,' the other Freya said as she also stood up. 'Why do you still fight?'

Freya didn't answer the question, her eyes were still fixed on Vath. His lips moved, but Freya couldn't hear his words.

'I didn't ask to be born as the child of light,' the other Freya continued. 'I didn't ask for many things, but it happens. I fight, I struggled, but no matter what I do, the outcome remains the same. It's futile to fight destiny...

'I mean, look at you, a random soul, pulled into my body by coincidence. It could have been someone else's soul. But see where destiny pulled you... I can't fight destiny; and nor can you.' The stare of her deep amethyst eyes disturbed Freya.

'It's your utter defeat—' Freya could hear Vath said.

'You fought,' the other Freya said. No, Ori said. Original Freya. 'But can't fight destiny, can't we?' She smiled and shrugged.

'... You're—noisy,' Freya said to Ori. That response earned her a glare from Ori, to which Freya chuckled.

'You didn't hear what your opponent said, didn't you? You've lost. The library's going to fall, Ray; Elaine; and Dunnford are going to lose, and you'll suffer the same fate as them; worse. It's useless to fight.'

Freya leaned her back on the wall. She looked at Ori through the gap of her violet hair. Freya made a grin. '... It's not about--whether a sword would cut,' she said. 'It's about wielding the blade.'

***

Vath watched silently as the swordswoman started muttering inaudibly to herself. She had stood up with resistance in her eyes and pointed the blade at him, but after hearing what he said about the other battles, Vath was convinced that the swordswoman had lost it.

She was talking to herself.

'You can't accept your loss,' Vath remarked. 'And that messes your head.'

Freya kept on muttering, not giving Vath any response. Watching this, Vath determined that there was no use in keeping her alive any longer. He believed that because of what he said, he had broken her for good. Time to end her.

***

'Have you gone mad?' Ori asked.

'The trick about cutting,' Freya continued, 'is to swing the sword—'

'So you have,' Ori remarked.

'—with the intention to cut.'

Vath covered the distance between him and her with a dash. Not being able to fight against his speed, Freya had to predict her opponent's movement. She would have predicted him by logical thinking, but with her current state, she had to leave the prediction to her instinct.

Vath threw a right jab—an attack that Freya dodged in advance before it was thrown—which decimated what remained of the wall behind her. She had swayed to her left, her right hand grabbed the edge of the wall to prevent her fall, and had thrusted Celeste to Vath. That weak thrust made a scratch on his cheek.

'It cuts,' Freya said to Ori.

'So? It's just a scratch.'

'Achieving victory is the same as cutting.'

Vath continued his attack with a straight chop from above.

In her exhaustion, dodging that would be impossible if she had just used the strength of her upper body. Utilizing her surroundings however, made for an entirely different story.

Freya rose up by pulling on the edge of the wall with her right hand and by pushing the ground with Celeste. As she got enough momentum to rise up, she swung Celeste to Vath. He had received many light cuts, and the swinging of her sword made his movement slow down by a tiny moment. A tiny moment that allowed her to escape. Freya missed her counterattack, but she survived from that predicament.

'You let go of the wall, how are you going to dodge now?' Ori asked. Freya's legs couldn't stand on their own due to the exhaustion.

'I didn't—go here... with the intention to lose.'

As Freya took some distance from Vath with her wobbly legs, she stretched her right hand to the ruin of rubbles that was created by the Cerberus. Those rubbles created a darkness that couldn't be dispelled by the stars shining above. A darkness that would fulfill the condition. Freya called out Celeste's name and pulled out a white sword sheathe from that darkness.

'I came here—with the intention to win. Even if my true enemy is destiny itself, I'll still fight to win. And I will win.'

Freya used Celeste's sheathe as a makeshift walking cane. Her legs were weak and she needed support to continue standing. Thus, she leaned on the sheathe as if it was a walking cane. She still pointed her blade to Vath.

'You persistent woman,' Vath loudly grumbled.

He approached her and threw 2 consecutive punches. Two attacks that Freya dodged by maneuvering and pivoting herself with Celeste's sheathe. However, she hadn't thrown any counterattack to slash Vath.

Vath then stomped on the ground as hard as he could, ruining Freya's steps, and caused her to be in imbalance. This time, Freya wouldn't be able to dodge, and she wouldn't be able to block Vath's attack on time.

'There's nothing you can do now,' Ori said as she perceived the present predicament. 'Intentions alone, doesn't change the outcome.'

***

Vath had stomped the ground and what he did worked as intended: it disturbed the swordswoman's balance.

Although she had lost it and had been muttering to herself, she was still capable of fighting. There were no basis for what Vath was feeling, but he felt a sense of urgency to finish everything now. That he had to immediately kill her at this moment in that golden opportunity when the swordswoman lost her footing.

This is the end.

As he was close enough to unleash his attack, Vath heard the muttering of the swordswoman. 'I'll win...' she said. 'All the battles.'

From behind her, there came a light. A light that appeared in the middle of the night, shining brighter than the moon and stars on the night sky. A light so bright; so dazzling, that it was as if Vath was staring at the sun. His eyes, which was already conditioned to the darkness, was blinded by that light. He lost his sight and when he swung his fist, he felt no contact.

He had missed.

And when he regained his senses, he noticed a cut above his waist. Unlike the previous shallow cuts, the swordswoman had cut him deep this time.