‘This will be the longest,’ Drizzle had shouted before the ship submerged.

Freya would lose consciousness.

Her right wrist grabbed by the immortal’s left hand underwater, Freya could see ahead into the predicament that awaited her.

She had lost her consciousness in the first submersion, slightly in the second, and though she was prepared for the third, she could tell that she would lose her consciousness again. This submersion would be the longest, she had lost almost half of the air she had withheld, and she had to fight against the immortal.

The immortal won’t pass out, Freya knew it from her observation. When the ship was in the enclosed dock, she had inflicted to her a big enough wound that drained more blood than a normal human could lose to sustain life, yet she had retained consciousness.

Surviving this submersion alone wouldn’t be enough for Freya to live.

Suppose that she stayed on the ship, inevitably lost consciousness, and the ship rose carrying her to the surface, escaping the skystorm. The immortal wouldn’t pass out and could be the sole person to retain consciousness. Then, she would be able to kill Freya and everyone else.

I have to get her off the ship, Freya thought as she looked at the immortal. Her opponent was holding the kunai on the left and shrouding it in darkness. And I have to do it fast. She could hear her heart thumping and feel her lungs shriveling, demanding air.

In that underwater darkness, her amethyst eyes gazed toward the hold on her wrist.

***

Kokuri wasn’t letting go of the swordswoman’s wrist.

Her fixation on this violet-haired swordswoman was born due to an irritation that surfaced because of her. The gesture of placing a hand on her shoulder, the style of lowering and pointing the sword down, the trick that slowed Kokuri's regeneration, and that smile in the face of challenges… All of them irritated Kokuri.

She had failed in killing her once when the ship was in the enclosed dock, twice when her kunai had missed on the helm, thrice when her kunai was blocked by a persistent meddling swordsman, and now…

I’ll grant you the death you deserve.

Kokuri pulled the swordswoman’s wrist, closed the distance between them, and swung the kunai with her right hand. The agility of her right arm was hindered by the water, slowing her attack, but it didn’t matter. The swordswoman’s movement was also hindered by the water.

She didn’t dodge—couldn’t dodge.

Kokuri felt a blade pressing on the side of her right lower arm. The swordswoman had brought her sword up and pushed her arm away, not allowing her kunai to bring harm. On the ground, Kokuri would have pressed onward without regard to the sword stabbing her arm, so long as her kunai reached. In the water, she couldn’t press on the blade, because that would push her away and increase the distance between them.

Let me kill you already, Kokuri gritted her teeth. People striving to survive were brightly maddening to her.

Kokuri felt a hold on her left wrist. The swordswoman had chosen to make use of her hold instead of escaping it. This time, it was her who pulled Kokuri. Not to get Kokuri close to her, but to throw her away from the ship.

With one of her feet latched to the railing of the ship under them, she twisted her upper body clockwise, and got Kokuri off the ship. The swordswoman let go of her hold on her wrist to throw her away, but Kokuri’s hold was still firm.

Her foot’s latching on the railing slipped and they were now floating underwater with the ship slowly distancing itself from them.

You’re going together with me.

Kokuri might not be able to kill her using the kunai, but she could still drown her. The swordswoman would die from the lack of air, while Kokuri wouldn’t.

She expected to watch despair settle in the swordswoman expression. But the gaze in her amethyst eyes were not clouded by resignation. Those eyes were of someone who was intent on living. A glimmer that was not consumed by the darkness of despair.

Following the motion of her throw, the swordswoman’s left arm was swinging her sword at Kokuri. A slow movement that was hindered by the water, but was empowered with the force behind the previous throw, was sharp, and precise.

This…

It was a weak swing, but when the blade made contact, she could feel the metal cutting through her kimono and slicing through her skin. Inflicting a diagonal slash that started from Kokuri’s right shoulder down toward her left waist.

Suffering the wound, Kokuri couldn’t gather strength on her left hand and couldn’t hold onto the swordswoman’s wrist.

As she drifted away, watching the violet haired swordswoman shrink because of the distance, Kokuri found more reasons to be irritated by her.

***

Freya felt dizzy.

She could hear the throbbing of her heart beating her eardrums, could feel the shrivelling pain of her lungs making use of the remaining air to the fullest, could see creeping darkness at the edge of her vision.

I have to reach the ship, she thought as she paddled herself toward it.

Conserving air was currently the least of her worries. No matter how much air she saved, all of it would be wasted if she couldn’t get back onto the ship and surface.

As soon as she had slashed the immortal, she had turned and paddled toward the ship with immediate haste. She didn’t check how deep the slash was, if it was effective, or if the immortal was behind and chasing her. None of that had mattered. If she couldn’t get back onto the ship, then she was a goner; this cold dark sea would be the end of her journey.

Her right arm hurt; couldn’t move exactly as she wanted, her legs felt weak; couldn’t push her toward the ship the best way, but Freya had to press on. If the price of getting onto the ship was not being able to use those parts again, then it was a price she would have to pay.

I refuse to die here. She was close to reaching the railing of the ship. A little bit… more…

The air which she could no longer use finally forced its way out of her mouth and the darkness that had been on the edge covered the whole of her vision.

Before losing her consciousness for good in that cold darkness Freya thrusted Celeste toward the ship.