The air in the park grew heavy, tasting of copper and cold ash. The Void Monster—a towering, jagged thing of distorted glass—stepped out of the fountain’s blackened basin. It didn't have feet; it glided over the grass, leaving a trail of gray desaturation behind it. Everywhere it touched, the vibrant green of the park turned to the color of old newspaper.
"What... what is that thing?" Yui whispered. Her voice was small, but she hadn't backed away.
"A Void," Konone replied, her eyes locked on the creature. "It feeds on the things you fear most. It turns your heart into a prison of silence."
The monster let out a sound like grinding metal. Its white mask pulsed, and suddenly, a wave of dark energy rippled outward. The people frozen in the park groaned, their heads drooping as if their very souls had become too heavy to carry.
"I have to stop it!" Konone shouted. She held the cracked Heart Card high. "Blazing Heart! Ignite!"
A pillar of crimson flame erupted around her. For a second, the tattered cloak vanished, replaced by a sleek, armored combat suit—the uniform of a Blazing Girl. Her hair flared like a sunburst, and she lunged forward, her fists trailing sparks of orange fire.
"Blazing Punches!"
She struck the monster’s chest. Crack. A spiderweb of fractures appeared on the glass armor, but the flames were flickering. Konone gritted her teeth, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Every strike seemed to drain her.
"Konone! You're hurting!" Yui cried out, taking a step toward the battle.
"Stay... back!" Konone yelled, dodging a massive, shadowy limb that shattered a nearby stone bench. "My world is gone, Yui! This card... it's broken! I’m fighting on borrowed time!"
The monster sensed her weakness. It didn't strike with its fists this time; it opened its hollow chest, revealing a swirling vortex of gray mist.
"Why struggle?" a voice seemed to hiss from the Void—a voice that sounded like a thousand lonely whispers. "Your friends are gone. Your home is dust. Give in to the quiet."
Konone froze. The fire around her fists died down to a dull ember. The trauma of the "Flashback"—the sight of Mahiru disappearing into the static—rushed back to her. She fell to her knees, the cracked Fire Card slipping from her numb fingers and skidding across the pavement toward the fountain.
"No..." Konone whispered, her head bowing. "I can't... I can't do it alone."
The Void Monster loomed over her, raising a jagged shard of shadow like an executioner’s blade.
"Finished," the monster hissed.
"NO!"
A blur of movement streaked across the plaza. Yui Hanamachi wasn't a warrior. She wasn't a hero from another world. She was just a girl who loved pork buns and hated seeing people cry.
Before the shard could fall, Yui threw herself in front of Konone, her arms spread wide, her eyes burning with a fierce, stubborn light that the Void couldn't touch.
"I don't know who you are, or what you lost!" Yui shouted at the monster, her voice echoing through the silent park. "But you aren't taking her, too! Not while I’m standing here!"
At that moment, the air around Yui didn't turn gray. It turned a brilliant, crystalline blue. The ground beneath her feet began to frost over, and a soft, rhythmic humming filled the plaza—the sound of a new Heart beginning to beat.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OZXlPl7Rd
and then Add to home screen.