Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume12 Chapter8 (section)

===Part 1===

&mdash;Kamito... Where are you, Kamito?

(...?)

A voice came from the darkness.

A girl's voice, sounding as though it might disappear any moment.

(...Who, are you?)

Amidst darkness so dark that he could not even see underfoot, Kamito gingerly reached out.

This was like wandering in a wilderness of memories.

This was a dream. Simply his subconscious unease manifesting in the form of a dream.

While walking towards the voice, Kamito calmly reached his conclusion.

(But&mdash;)

Kamito continued to think. Retaining the ability for lucid thought even in dreams was part of the most basic training taught by the Instructional School.

Rather than a dream, it was more like his mind moving through his subconscious&mdash;

(...There might be clues to my memories.)

Reaching on in the darkness at this time, he suddenly felt a sharp pain.

The spirit seal branded on his right hand gave off light.

&mdash;Kamito... Do you hear... my voice?

The seal's glow slightly illuminated the surrounding darkness.

In his view, straight ahead&mdash;A girl could be seen chained up.

"...!?"

Unimaginably beautiful, a girl with silver-white hair.

Her pale, white, nude body appeared in the darkness.

(...That's my contracted spirit?)

Terminus Est&mdash;Literally the strongest sword spirit, crowned with the title of the Demon Slayer.

But in contrast to her title, she looked so fragile and delicate in appearance.

She looked like she would shatter like glass with a single touch of the finger.

With some hesitation, Kamito stopped walking.

The darkness in the surroundings began to move and gradually swallowed the girl's nude body.

"...Est...!"

In that instant, Kamito cried out the girl's name, forgetting it was a dream.

He called out the name of the contracted spirit that had been erased from his memory.

However, when he stepped forward, his feet sank into dark mud.

Like that, he gradually sank.

"...Wait... up...!"

Reaching out furiously, his finger touched the girl's hand slightly.

Suddenly, her thoughts seemed to be transmitted to him, using their point of contact as a bridge.

&mdash;Kamito, I am waiting here.

&mdash;Waiting for you, Kamito, to return after fulfilling ''her'' promise.