The butterflies opened fire at the same time Asayuki kicked off. Erina's blade flew from its sheath to meet the crimson katana. They broke off from each other, red arcs cutting at the barrage around Asayuki, and then re-engaged just as fast. One spell circle after another exhausted itself at Erina's feet.

  Erina could only see her in flashes, briefly illuminated in snapshots as the light of the beams pulsed and danced around them. The katana was the constant, its metal an unearthly red as it struck out time and again. Green and red blades clashed in the dark, punctuated by the barrage of lasers crashing down around them.

  Asayuki's blade slammed to a stop against a hexagram barrier, only to smash through before a split second had passed. That was all the time Erina needed to shift her body out of the way and retaliate fruitlessly, the red katana twisting around to repel the blow alongside the lasers coming from above. For every time their blades crossed, Asayuki swung three times more, dodging and deflecting the rain of light.

  A tree of lightning exploded up inches away, forcing Asayuki into a spin as she narrowly twisted away. She noted the angles of attack. The high-yield branching spears from those glowing mines underfoot. A barrage of moderate-power beams from a circle around her, courtesy of the butterflies. And Erina herself, striking in time with her ranged attacks with a quick draw while the swordmaster was preoccupied.

  The crimson blade flashed. Erina staggered back. Asayuki took the lesser of the options presented and ignored the few lasers that reached their mark, mana shield pulsing as she found her footing. Her katana returned to its sheath and Erina reacted immediately, hexagram barrier forming to protect herself.

  But Asayuki didn't focus her assault on her. One second spent still to gather her focus, and then a storm of vibrant slashes painted the dark a fleeting bright red. The swordmaster's blade flooded the arena and ripped the butterflies apart. Erina's feet skidded a few inches back as her barrier recorded dozens of impacts. Red and green sparks of light descended as Asayuki resheathed her blade.

  A high-pitched whine, and then Asayuki was several feet aside as a devastating railgun bolt pulverized where she stood. The shot tore through the unit below, ripping clean through the floor and vanishing into the void as it screamed through the air.

  That whining sound didn't stop. Asayuki moved in bursts, another railgun shot tearing through wherever she stopped, her blade only briefly leaving its sheath to parry Erina's attempts to intercept with her own green blade. Red and green steel clashed off each other, vibrant sparks filling the darkness.

  Something felt off. As their blades crossed again, Asayuki understood.

  She leapt into the air, leaving Erina below as she breached high into the midst of the accelerator arrays. They pivoted with her, fresh bolts loaded and quickly ramping to max speed—

  Three crescent arcs flashed and she sheathed her katana. Three sets of spell circles broke and were scattered in the wake of her cuts, half-baked bolts narrowly missing Asayuki as she twisted between them.

  "You're too defensive!" Asayuki's greaves clanged as she landed. "A blade that faltering will never touch me." She drew herself up, visor concealing her eyes as she met Erina's gaze. "But you're also strong. Too strong. No amount of training could close the gap so quickly in so little time."

  "I told you," said Erina. "This laboratory belongs to me. It's not merely a location. It speaks to me. When I ask, it answers."

  Asayuki looked around. "…Not just Lazarus," she concluded. "It functions as your Attuned Realm too."

  "You don't belong here," said Erina in a low voice. "Get out of my home!"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  The mines activated as one, branches of lightning flooding the air. A high-pitched whine filled the air as Asayuki hesitated. By ear alone, she heard it spinning up faster than any she'd seen yet, ready to fire before the branches began fading—

  A flurry of crescent arcs surrounded Asayuki, flooding the air with her blade. The railgun bolt deflected by just a few degrees, lancing a new hole through her scarf on its way to pierce clean through the unit they fought atop.

  Asayuki sheathed her blade again and focused. As the branches left by her spears faded, Erina felt the change in mana—a sudden outpour, flowing from Asayuki and coalescing in the scabbard. Now wasn't the time to counterattack. A thick tangle of twisted steel grew up before her as she stepped back, large hexagram barrier forming at her fingertips—

  The next draw fired off like a gunshot, a plane of bright red cutting through the dark over the unit's ceiling. Erina's physical barrier didn't shatter. It didn't shift at all because the cut was so fine, so perfect that everything above and below were totally unmoved.

  Eight thousand. Erina recorded the hexagram barrier skyrocketing to eight thousand layers in a single instant before it slammed back into its own wielder, the seal scattering like shards of glass around her as the recoil launched her end over end through the air.

  "Oof!" The impact of landing on a corridor punched the air out of her lungs. Erina scrambled for purchase, fingers narrowly finding it just short of sliding off the outer surface entirely. The unit they had been fighting on now dangled, swinging back and forth on one massive chain with the rest severed.

  A sudden cold hand on her back and Erina seized up, a strangled gasp escaping her as the ofuda binded itself to her. An invisible force throttled her, choking her magic circuits to a standstill. The cloud of orbs, left over the fallen unit, faded away. Asayuki landed on the corridor ceiling with her as Erina whirled, green katana jumping into her grip as the swordmaster rushed forth.

  The panels at their feet moved and the red steel screamed to a stop just shy of Erina, embedded in the metal plates. The corridor shifted, Erina yelping as the surface beneath her gave way and the red blade finished tearing through where she stood.

  A flurry of red ripped apart the ceiling and Asayuki dropped down after her. Erina scrambled to her feet, but a harsh blue light filled the corridor before either of them could draw—

  A huge blast of energy blew past Erina and collided squarely with Asayuki, taking her with it. Metal screamed, and the blast sent her crashing through the wall at the far end of the hall, off into the darkness.

  Erina's hair settled in the wake of the powerful shot, and she lowered the arm raised on instinct. A gaping hole and torn metal marked where Asayuki was sent careening into the depths.

  "Barely made it." Lazarus dropped her weapon with a loud clatter and ran to Erina's side. "Are you okay?"

  "I-I am," said Erina, shaken.

  Lazarus grabbed at the corner of the ofuda affixed to her back and peeled it off with some effort. She flicked her hand, sparks of electricity jumping and burning the paper to ash off her fingers. Erina breathed a sigh of relief as the mana resumed its proper flow.

  "What is that?" Erina's eyes fell on the weapon Lazarus carried. It was some sort of mechanical monstrosity—sharp angles, glowing electric blue lines, stark white plates, two crackling prongs instead of a barrel, and an overall figure somewhere between a gatling gun and a portable cannon.

  "This old thing?" Lazarus hefted the gun. It transformed, parts rearranging themselves from a railgun into a single-barreled pile driver with a nasty-looking spike. "Meet the Finger! It launches accelerated plasma, clocks up to ten thousand RPM in rapid mode, busts bunkers, files your taxes, drives nails, and does your nails if you ask it nicely! Number three of ten. Couldn't salvage the rest."

  "Where's Akira?" asked Erina.

  Before Lazarus could answer, a bright light caught their attention, shining through the hole in the wall. A gold-white comet streaked past, stark shadows dancing in the hallway as it shot into the depths after Asayuki.

  "Is that…?" said Erina.

  "Darius' Light Speed," confirmed Lazarus. "He can transform himself into living light. Fast enough to cross a country in minutes. We don't have much time. This way!"

  They ran through the battle-torn laboratory. They passed by tangled messes of wires and smashed turrets and panels, deep gashes in the walls exposing the outer void space, and entire sections of missing corridor. The laboratory shook and rattled all around them as units and halls moved places, rearranging itself at Lazarus' will to scramble the layout and delay their assailants to buy just a little more time. All the while, the alarms continued to flash red and the klaxons wailed.

  Erina's heart pounded. The Three Equalizers. The most dangerous enemies one could have were here in this space that should've been safe. But it didn't seem like they were here to kill them, not even Lazarus.

  Whatever they came here for was even more important than that.