Sakuya watches helplessly as Grey lays lifeless under the guardian's legs. Slowly, the creature turns around to face her. Its current ability is far beyond what she can deal with. It upgraded itself several times during the battle. There is no way for her to win. If anything, she should be thinking of a way to escape while she still can. But for some reason, her body refuses to take a single step back.

"Minor... threat... terminated..." croaks the guardian mechanically.

"..."

"Completing... duty..." it says as it faces the chief maid.

The creature takes a step forward toward Sakuya. The ground rumbles as it approaches her cautiously.

"Duty..?" mutters Sakuya.

Sakuya quickly dries her eyes. As she wipes off the last tear, she glares back at the clockwork guardian with fiery red eyes. She pulls out a knife from her dress and points it at the creature.

"Duty." she repeats calmly.

Suddenly, with a crazy smile upon her face, she looks up at the guardian.

"Aah, the cleaning never ends!" exclaims the chief maid. "And again, you're hindering the cleaning~"

...

He can feel it all over his arms and legs, like he is being torn apart and put back together again. This agony is excruciating; this is unbearable. This pain is too much for him. Can't this pain end already? He would much rather die than be in this kind of pain.

"..."

Grey struggles with himself to open a single eye. Slowly getting up, he cringes as his whole body feels bruised all over, from top to bottom. He barely manages to sit himself up.

Somehow, he is still alive.

His wonder at this unexpected discovery is suddenly interrupted by a loud crash. He turns his head, however painful his neck is, to observe the commotion.

With renewed vigor, Sakuya is fighting relentlessly against the clockwork guardian. She seems to be pushing it back, but as Grey looks closer, he realizes that the chief maid isn't any healthier. In fact, she seems to be pushing herself recklessly against the creature.

With her injuries, it is only a matter of time before she collapses from exhaustion. If this continues, Sakuya is going to die. There must be something else he can do.

There must be a way.

[ ] Vicious, 「Festival of Steel」
[ ] Command Sign, 「Master's Voice」
[ ] Valor Sign, 「Heroic Rescue」
[ ] Custom