Spiritrun Arena

On Tokyo's Mid-Autumn night, osmanthus fragrance wrapped in moonlight drifted into the Spirit Pattern Tree courtyard. Grandma Chizuru stood on tiptoe, tying tassels to the last rabbit moon lamp. The crescent on its surface was outlined in gold powder, like an incomplete silver plate—a three-hundred-year-old promise left unfulfilled with General Yuekui: to hang twelve full-moon lamps on the night of the full moon, each holding a "reunion".

"Little Peach, pass me the star sand." Grandma's voice held rare excitement. "Yuekui said in a dream she'd 'complete' this last lamp herself tonight."

Little Peach ran over from the veranda, holding a celadon bowl, a silver osmanthus hairpin Asagao had just given her in her hair. The moment her fingertips touched the star sand, the crow bell on her wrist erupted in sound—a warning from the murder of crows.

"Captain!" Sakura's voice came from under the Spirit Pattern Tree. "Pollution fluctuations from the arena!"

The dome of the Spirit Pattern Arena split open with a jet-black gash, like a sky torn by a giant blade. Black mist surged out, condensing into a translucent beast shape—the "Moon-Eclipsing Beast", corrupted by polluted spirit patterns, with a twisted star core embedded in its forehead. Every blink cracked spiderweb fissures across the ground.

"It's absorbing lunar essence!" Su Li's voice trembled. Her spatial spirit patterns projected a scene from three hundred years ago: on the same lunar eclipse night, General Yuekui had split the Moon-Eclipsing Beast with her stardust meteorite sword, but that sword had shattered into stardust after the war.

Lin Ye's Reverse Scale Core suddenly burned. He clutched his chest, golden light seeping through his fingers—a resonance with some ancient spirit pattern memory. "Little Peach, get behind me." His voice was steady as iron, yet held a hint of unspoken panic. "This time, I'll be your shield."

Little Peach's fingertips trembled, but not from fear. She stared at the light and shadow on Lin Ye's profile, recalling the warmth of last night when he'd held her to watch the rabbit moon lamps. "Captain, I want to help too."

Before she finished, the Moon-Eclipsing Beast screeched, a black ray piercing straight for Little Peach's heart!

"Watch out!"

Lin Ye moved faster than thought. He spun to shield Little Peach in his arms, his Reverse Scale Core exploding into blinding gold light, forming golden scales around them. The black ray crashed into the scales, showering sparks, but also sent Lin Ye staggering back—the beast's power was fiercer than he remembered.

"Lin Ye!" Asagao's crows swarmed, pecking at the beast's eyes with sharp beaks; Jiu's crows carried Su Qinghuan's newly forged "Evil-Breaking Talismans", sticking them precisely to the beast's claw joints; Sakura raised a modified spirit pattern cannon, its muzzle light from twelve rabbit moon lamps, firing a crescent-shaped wave.

"Now!" Su Li's spatial spirit patterns spread across the ground, enshrouding everyone in a "time dilation" field. Her fingertips pressed to her chest—a spirit pattern core recast from fragments of General Yuekui's old armor. "Little Peach, use your scarf!"

Little Peach reacted instantly. She pulled off the silver osmanthus scarf—knitted by Lin Ye through the night, its stitches uneven yet warm—and wrapped it around her left hand. Osmanthus petals on the scarf suddenly glowed gold, resonating with her crow bell to form a translucent "Rabbit Moon Blade" in her palm.

"This is..." Little Peach froze. The blade's outline perfectly matched the patterns on Lin Ye's Reverse Scale Core, like two pieces of starlight fitting together.

"The Symbiotic Pattern." Lin Ye's voice shook. His core resonated with the blade, gold light climbing its length to gather into a star at the tip. "Three hundred years ago, General Yuekui used this pattern to weave our spirit patterns into a galaxy."

The Moon-Eclipsing Beast's pupils contracted. It felt the pollution within being stripped away, letting out a dying wail. Little Peach gripped the Rabbit Moon Blade, as crows and talismans erupted together, Su Li's spatial field constricting to a single point—

"Now!" Lin Ye roared, his Reverse Scale Core pouring golden light into the blade. Little Peach's palm burned, as if fire ran through her veins. She leaped high, the blade slicing the night in a river of light.

"Strike!"

The blade's light flooded the arena. The Moon-Eclipsing Beast let out a final howl, black mist receding like a tide, leaving only a half-star core to fall to the ground—purified polluted spirit pattern, now glowing softly.

Moonlight poured down again, illuminating twelve full-moon lamps. Grandma Chizuru approached with the last lamp, its crescent somehow completed into a full moon, a phantom of General Yuekui emerging. Her smile was the same as three hundred years ago: "I knew you'd turn 'reunion' into the brightest star."

Lin Ye knelt, offering the Rabbit Moon Blade to Little Peach. Stars on the blade suddenly split—half merging into his Reverse Scale Core, half into her crow bell—a "Symbiotic Seal" of their spirit patterns, never to part.

"Just now..." Little Peach's face flushed. "I think I saw Sister Yuekui."

"So did I." Lin Ye stared at her moonlit hair, throat moving. "She smiled and said we'd finally learned 'now's' reunion."

Late at night, on Tokyo Tower's observation deck, Lin Ye and Little Peach sat side by side. The Reverse Scale Core hovered between them, starlight flowing with today's battle: the Rabbit Moon Blade's light, crows' courage, Grandma Chizuru's urgent "careful" as she held sugar paintings...

"Captain." Little Peach suddenly took his hand. "Do you think Sister Yuekui is watching us now?"

Lin Ye set the Reverse Scale Core gently between their clasped palms. Yuekui's smiling face appeared in its light, her voice like wind through three centuries: "I am. Every 'now' of yours is my brightest reunion."

Wind swept the tower, lifting an osmanthus leaf that landed in Little Peach's hair, overlapping with petals on her silver osmanthus pin. In the distance, twelve full-moon lamps still glowed, like twelve stars fallen to earth.

Farther away, a healed soul watched, smiling softly—it was Yuekui, and every "Reunion Knot" ever wrapped in love.