Flames lit up the night sky. The capital city of Windbloom was collapsing under Yuna's invasion. The shapeshifting life form had changed herself into a monstrosity resembling Fumi Himeno, the mother of all Otome. Defeat seemed inevitable as she silently loomed over the sorry sort she had been battling.
Blood poured down Nao's face as she screamed and blindly clawed at the shrapnel in her eyes. Haruka's morningstar had been sliced to pieces, along with most of her right arm. Shiho was going into shock thanks to her freshly severed left leg. Natsuki and Shizuru were sprawled across the ground beside her, having inadvertently decimated each other with their own attacks after the colossal opponent dodged their attempt at a combined assault. Countless more Otome were strewn across the battlefield, hidden somewhere within the walls of fire. Akane was the only one still staggering on her feet, clad her cat-themed Meister Robe and holding her signature tonfa in her arms. The only thing that could have been motivating her to continue was her devotion to protecting the one person she loved the most.
Kazuya had gathered with the rest of Earl's leaders for they knew would be the final stand. It was never his intent to send his beloved into war, but the prospect of an ancient alien menace threatening the safety of the entire human race had forced his hand as the Emperor of Chaldea. Now he was just like every other noble in the world, watching from the sidelines in the hope that their Otome would be able to save them all. With their first line of defense all but annihilated, their chances seemed slim.
The armor rings around Akane's ankles, wrists, waist and neck began to glow one last time as she defiantly took to the sky. Her attack was stopped when one Yuna's enormous limbs struck her in the air and left her spinning out of control. She could do nothing as a sharpened tendril burst from Yuna's body and closed in for an easy kill.
Kazuya collapsed to a knee and cried out in unison with Akane. He could feel his heart stopping the moment she was impaled through the stomach on the makeshift blade. His life had been linked to hers so she could use her Robe, and now they would die together.
His vision began to blur as some of his closest subjects wasted their time trying to tend to him. He could barely make out the barrage of vines now shooting out of Yuna's ever-changing form, scooping the other fallen Otome off the burning ground and pulling them in. The rest spectators watched in confusion as the otherworldly giant used an ability none of them had ever witnessed before.
When Akane and her peers made contact with the monster's body, each of their Robes dissolved into a storm of green sparks and left them as bare as the day they were born. As they began sinking into Yuna's gelatinous mass, those who still had enough of their senses made a short-lived effort to struggle to freedom. None of them had the strength to escape their fate, however, and they all quickly disappeared into their captor's folds.
Once Akane was fully engulfed, the pain stopped. Kazuya had no idea how to explain it. Despite every rule hardcoded into the Otome system, his heart suddenly resumed its normal, healthy pace. It could only mean something was interfering with the connection, or something was keeping Akane alive.
A second squadron of Otome arrived from Garderobe only seconds after it was too late to rescue their comrades. Before they were even able to break formation, Yuna retaliated with shocking speed. The center of her chest opened to reveal a GEM-like structure that had formed on a scale far above Yuna herself. A large amount of Materializing energy began condensing into the center of the crystal from either the Otome who were now buried in the her body, or from somewhere within the superstructure itself.
Once it was fully charged, the crystal unleashed a devastating energy ray directly toward the air corps. Most of the group was able to avoid being instantly reduced to antimatter, but the sheer power of the blast was enough to clip their figurative wings all the same. As they regrouped on the ground, the battle took an even more bizarre turn.
The solitary blue star in the sky suddenly and inexplicably turned red. Yuna began glowing in the same shade as her entire body seemed to boil under the increased heat. Her torso began to sprout blisters, and then the blisters stretched and contorted into distinctly female forms.
The team of Otome that Yuna had captured minutes ago began oozing out of her body, each thoroughly soaked in a translucent gel and with all of their injuries miraculously healed. Kazuya, like many around him, could only watch with a look of horror on his face. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate beautiful naked women raining from the sky; he just wished it could have happened during happier times.
And then his fiancée crashed to the ground with a wet plop. It was not one of the Pure Heart Malachite's more graceful entrances.
Akane recovered at about the same rate as the rest of her sisters in arms. She slowly climbed onto her hands and knees and shook her head to get a thick coat of slime out of her hair, shamelessly letting herself by seen by whoever may have been watching. When she opened her eyes, her irises glowed in an unearthly gold tint.
Her lips curled into a mischievous smirk as her Robe began Materializing entirely under her will. The costume appeared a bit more haggard than before, but it still clung to her frame like a second skin. Her transformation was complete when a pair of decorative cat ears appeared on top of her hairband.
The rest of the now freed Otome were rearming their Robes and climbing out of their own puddles the same time Akane rose to her feet with her tonfa at her sides. For a brief instant, the entire party stood in collective silence and focused their glowing eyes toward the crowd of nobles and arriving Otome. Then the carnage began.
Akane suddenly dashed forward with the rest of her mob. They attacked far more aggressively and with far less reservation than any of the other Otome, many of whom couldn't even bring themselves to fight their former allies. Kazuya and the rest of the contract masters were cornered before they even realized what was happening.
Disabling the Otome reinforcements and outright slaughtering anyone else in her way, Akane slowly inched closer and closer toward him. She didn't appear to be as proficient at the task as most of her colleagues, but she still exhibited a certain bloodlust.
At some point in the ensuing chaos, the young emperor stumbled behind his guards and wound up in a seated position against a stone wall. Relentless in her attacks, Akane managed to clear a path toward him without delay. In a few short moments, she was on back on all fours and crawling over his petrified knees with the same devious look on her face. Just when it seemed Kazuya was about to meet his end at the hands of the most unlikely of assassins, something unexpected happened.
Akane's weapons disappeared from her arms. An innocent smile formed across her mouth as she leaned a few inches closer. Her nostrils flared at Kazuya's familiar scent just before her lips met his. When she parted from the abrupt kiss, she took a few extra seconds to playfully nibble on his lower lip. Her canines felt somewhat sharper than he remembered.
She began whispering as her eyes gazed deeply into his. There was something feline about those eyes.
"I didn't forget about you, Kazu."
Half confused and half afraid, Kazuya had to fight to find his voice. He could hardly believe his lover's course of actions.
"A-... Akane, what's happened to you? You're supposed to be my Otome!"
"I'm sorry, Kazu. I'm Yuna's Child now. I wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for her."
Akane reached to her exposed abdomen while she replied. A tiny pink scar was the only thing marking the spot where she had been stabbed only minutes ago.
"You've got to make them stop this! They're killing everyone!"
Kazuya's frantic words caused her to curiously look over her back. After calmly watching the butchery taking place just behind her for a few moments, she turned back to his eyes and spoke in an uninterested manner.
"Oh. Those are the girls Yuna converted into combat-types. They'll be at it for a while."
She leaned forward again, softening her voice to keep their conversation relatively private.
"But once she saw my memories of you, she decided to make me be a breeding-type. I'm not as strong as some of the others, but I'll still be able to protect you and the babies from anything that can hurt us."
She tilted her head as her smile brightened.
"Doesn't that sound nice?"
Kazuya nervously peered over her shoulder to notice a handful of the enemy Otome were ceasing their attacks and making similar advances toward any able-bodied males still left among the casualties. Some of the other continental leaders and their soldiers were accosted by single Otome just as he was, while the "luckier" ones were being surrounded by small harems. His eyes grew even wider with fright when he saw the men who declined the proposal or tried to squirm their way out of courtship was promptly dispatched by their pursuers, and the more battle-ready Otome were strategically blocking anyone who could interrupt the proceedings. It was clear testing Akane's patience would not be in his best interests.
In the opposite direction, he could see Nao slinking toward him. She had a hungry look in her newly restored eyes.
Akane was quick to respond to the approach. The ribbons of her Robe stood straight up in the air as she turned her head and uttered a soft but menacing growl toward Nao. Unlike some of her littermates, she did not appear to be in the sharing mood.
When Nao backed off to find better plunder, Akane returned to her cheerful self and shifted her attention back to Kazuya. He once again struggled with his words.
"Akane... I..."
Hurt by his hesitation, a disappointed frown appeared on Akane's face. She brushed his cheek with her gloved hand as she lowered her voice. If she wasn't trying to comfort him, she was lining up her hand in case she had to crush his skull.
"Don't you like me anymore, Kazu?"
He dreaded what could happen if he rejected Akane further. He tried to speak in the most assuring tone he could manage.
"H-.. hey, that's not what I meant! It's just..."
He sputtered the first thing that came to his mind, which was fortunately the most honest thing he could probably say. In truth, this didn't sound like that horrible of a fate for either of them. Aside from the unusual context, it wasn't even that much different from what they had always wanted.
"Don't you think we're... going a little fast?"
Akane's more joyful expression returned in an instant. She gave an energetic nod in agreement when she replied.
"You're right. We don't have to rush."
Her ribbons reached over his waist like a second set of arms and formed a knot behind his back, firmly entwining him with her. Her voice became calmer as she nestled her head against his shoulder.
"Now we'll have all the time in the world."
Kazuya could hear another building exploding in the distance. A cheerful, high-pitched moan came from somewhere nearby. The terrified screams of young women filled the air as Yuna collected her next wave of recruits and began assimilating them into her hive. Akane purred contently in his arms.
At least the end of the world wouldn't be a lonely place.