Chapter 40.2

While Sivir is preoccupied with Silvanna's presence, she fails to keep an eye on Nephila which is her original plan. She is having too much fun in fighting the famous princess of the Moniyan Empire that she temporarily forgets what she planned with Talon.

Meanwhile, after fighting the warriors of Princess Odette's army, Nephila is once again face to face with her former teammate.

"It seems that you still didn't get back to your senses," Hanzo states which pushes Hanabi to turn on her annoyed self. She tightens her grip on the Higanbana before lunging at him.

"And you're still proud as before!" she yells. Her Higanbana screeches against the Ame no Habakiri and using her sharp, spider limbs, she claws at him but he manages to dodge them before they could pierce into his flesh. After a few seconds of keeping their distance away, Hanzo charges forward.

As their weapons collide each other, Hanabi's mixed feelings start to stir—making it hard for her to think straight.

"Not long ago, you hated me for being weak," she states. Hanzo swings his sword in an attempt to weaken her power by absorbing her energy but he fails to do so when the Higanbana whooshes across his weapon. It almost made Hanzo to let go of it because of the sudden impact.

"When I tried to help, you hated me," Hanabi adds as the memories of their first mission in Mizuyama replays in her mind. The hateful words of Hanzo is still fresh in her despite the months of having her memories erased.

Getting ahold of her double blade, Hanabi makes another lunge but only got dodged. When Hanzo suddenly vanishes, she could feel his presence behind her and with a swift turn, she made a roundhouse kick, hitting him right on the chest, and sends him rolling on the ground. She once again aims at him with her Higanbana before grabbing some kunais and runs towards him.

"When I left the team just as you wanted, you also hated it."

That memory, too, is still vivid. Not only did she argue with him but it was also the time she confessed to him but still, she chose to part ways.

Hanzo regains back his balance and sweeps Hanabi off her feet, delaying her attack. The way she speaks sounds like she is throwing a tantrum but the more she talk, his confusion rises as well. Hanabi slowly stands and with gritted teeth, she states,

"And now that I am stronger, you also hate it. Why... is it so hard to make you appreciate me?"

The way her voice broke makes Hanzo realize that the woman in front of him is on the verge of tears. He is not yet sure because Hanabi is looking down at the ground. But his speculation is confirmed when she goes for another offensive attack with a poisoned kunai on her hand. She is shedding tears and it is enough for him to think how cruel he was to her before. As his realization sinks in, Hanzo just stands where he is as he watches her coming closer. He was hoping that if she gets to stab him, then her anger and pain would somehow be relieved even just by a tiny bit.

Hanabi is expecting him to react but even when she is about to stab him with her kunai, he did not move. Thus, she stops midway before she would regret something in the future. She tightens her clutch on her weapon that is directed right at his heart. If she plunges it in him, surely, he will die. But would it be a satisfying end? That question lingers in her mind.

"What now? Do you seriously want to die?" she mumbles. Yet instead of a verbal reply, she receives an unexpected response.

With his free hand, Hanzo wraps his arm around her back and pulls her close. A small clang on the ground is heard when Hanabi drops her weapon—still confused with the sudden change.

With a soft whisper, he says, "I'm sorry... for everything."

Just those four words are enough to break the walls that Hanabi built around her. She promised herself that she would no longer listen to him but she could not do it. Her tears rain down on her cheeks and her sobs are almost covered as she holds him with both arms.

"Do I need to become evil just so you could do this?" she asks, still hugging him and too embarrassed to look at him in the eye. With small clicks, Hanabi has her spider limbs retreat behind her as if she is already tamed.

"I don't hate you, really," he confesses since he thinks that it is the perfect time to do it, especially that Hanabi is not watching how he turns beet red. "I just cannot accept the fact that I am actually falling for you... but one thing is for sure. I want to protect you."

Hanabi bites her lower lip but the smile still curves on the edges of her lips. How she wishes that time would tick real slow to feel his warmth for more minutes.

On the other hand, Hanzo feels like bursting into pieces because of the intimacy so he lets her go and grabs her hand instead. He walks ahead with Hanabi behind him and now that she is on his side and Gusion is taken down, only Sivir is left to deal with.

"Nephila!"

Angela's sudden horrifying shriek resounds on the entire place. Her eyes widen and no matter how hard she tries to free herself from the ties of magic, she cannot do anything but watch. Hanzo immediately looks back, only to see how Talon pierced through Hanabi's abdomen with his katana.

He could have impaled the silver-haired man, who dared to hurt Hanabi, but for a reason he cannot think of, he falls on his knees and is unable to move his entire body.

All he could do is stare at the dripping scarlet blood of the woman whom he just said to protect.

"We have met yet again, Akuma ninja," Talon states with a smile as he removes his katana from Hanabi. Putting it back in its scabbard, he carries the Scarlet ninja like a bride.

"I'll kill you," Hanzo snarls with gritted teeth. He wants to move, he forces himself to do so but he just can't.

"I'll look forward to that but for now, I'll take Hanabi. And do try your best to come and take her," he adds before turning his back on Hanzo.

But after three steps away, he comes to a halt and turns on his heels to face him for the second the time.

"Ah, I almost forgot," he says, "there is a high possibility that you cannot take her back though. And I am no longer Kenshin Sanosuke. My real name is Talon Du Couteau. Do remember that."

Meanwhile, Sivir senses the close presence of Talon which reminds her of Hanabi and the responsibility she forgot. She retreats which Princess Silvanna finds suspicious.

"We should fight again," Sivir claims with a satisfied smile before she vanishes in sight and Silvanna can no longer track her.

Joining with Talon, she apologizes for neglecting her duty but the assassin simply nods in response. For him, getting Hanabi back is the most important thing and all that is left for them to do is enter into the vortex. Only a few minutes left before it would close so they need to hurry.

"Follow them!" Tigreal commands as he leads the remaining active warriors towards the two strangers who kidnapped Hanabi.

With his strength back, Hanzo grabs his Ame no Habakiri and orders Kagura to release the demons within her Seimei Umbrella and capture Sivir and Talon who seems to be heading to the center of the vortex.

"Shougyo mougyo!"

Casting her spell, a bright and pink lotus flower blooms underneath the feet of Kagura. This gives her the ability to increase her speed and control hundreds of demons to immobilize her targets. Freya as well, she dashes towards the vortex before they could truly outrun them.

Guinevere creates orbs magic and when the warrior princess and Noxian assassin suddenly starts to ascend, she fires her magic in their direction. But with just one swing of Sivir with her swirling cross blade, the magic orbs are deflected and are shot to different places—causing more damage to the city.

Quite recovered, Layla is waiting for the right timing to fire her blazing cannon. Same goes with Cyclops, his immobilizing magic will surely stop the escape of the enemies.

With the forbidden jutsu, Hanzo decides to use it—separating his will from his physical body and increasing the damage and power he possesses. Harley did not want to see Hanabi be separated from their team, so he, too, releases his ring of fire that will burn the insides of the captors. With their magic and power combined, the warriors have high hope that it will kill Sivir and Talon before they are sucked in by the vortex.

"It is more than disheartening to have high hopes when in the end, it will only be crushed," Talon says in a low tone of voice as he witnesses how the warriors join forces just so they could stop them.

Not just a blinding light made everyone look away from the vortex, but they also get down when a deafening crack and a loud roar resound all throughout Magical City. But after such, the vortex, thunders and lightnings are gone in an instant. The dark clouds that once covered the skies slowly disappears and the setting sun reveals it beauty right before the warriors of the Land of Dawn.

"The war has ended!"

Raising their weapons, everyone shouts in victory. Princess Odette wants her people to celebrate their accomplishment but there are too many wounded warriors and celebrating must have to wait. Giving instructions to the unwounded, everyone starts another challenge—cleaning up after a long war.

Kagura sees Hanzo on the corner with his head down, thus, she walks towards him and pats his shoulder. It must be hard for him to lose the woman he dearly thinks of. And after what happened just a few moments ago, she highly doubts that Hanabi is still alive.

At the far south of the Land of Dawn, the vampire couple has found an abominable truth after seeking for answers to their questions involving their world and the suspicious appearance of Sivir and Talon. Cecilion has made a promise to never interfere with the problems of humans but Carmilla thinks otherwise.

"We have our happy ending," she says with her sincerest eyes, "and everyone at the Land of Dawn also deserves such beautiful end."

A bigger war is yet to come.

*Here ends the third book of the VENOM Squad Series*