Darkness.

  An endless abyss where time seemed to fold upon itself. Kazuki stood still, emotionless, his dagger gripped tightly. No sky. No earth. Just swirling black void beneath his feet and above his head.

  He raised his hand.

  “Elemental Fury.”

  Flames roared. Lightning surged. Wind howled. But the elements were instantly devoured by the void. As if they never existed.

  Kazuki didn't flinch. He began casting again.

  “Flare Spiral.”

  “Gale Fang.”

  “Aqua Dagger.”

  “Terra Bind.”

  “Dark Lance.”

  One by one, the spells either fizzled out or were absorbed. Even his most potent Non-Elemental spell, a compression of raw mana, was sucked into the abyss with no ripple, no sound, no response.

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  Kazuki narrowed his eyes. The emotionlessness within him was like a shell—but inside, his mind was racing.

  He muttered something under his breath, then extended his hand into the dark.

  “Come Forth.”

  Shadows twisted.

  The space cracked.

  Dozens of skeletal knights, wraiths, winged reapers, and beastly constructs emerged from his dimension. The glow in their eyes flickered.

  > Dark Army Count: 1463 — Fully Deployed

  Kazuki’s voice echoed through the darkness.

  “We’re trapped… This realm rejects everything. But together, we’ve broken fate before. You were all born from death… You understand what it means to crawl out of the void.”

  He took a step forward.

  “Find a way. Tear this realm apart if you must.”

  The army stirred. Their leader had spoken. They knelt in unison—then scattered in all directions, trying to push at the walls of this reality, striking, probing, casting forbidden spells, digging at the seams of existence itself.

  Kazuki stared at the crackling lines of mana left behind from their efforts.

  His voice was calm.

  “This isn’t over.”

  He closed his eyes, allowing memories to trickle—fragments, images, flashes of pain… and of a boy with red and blue eyes, standing above him in an unfamiliar place.

  Kairyuuha.

  Kazuki clenched his fist.

  There was no pain in his chest. No anger. Just the certainty of a purpose he could not yet recall.

  Suddenly, a strange pulse traveled through the void. The shadow dimension flickered. His dark army froze mid-motion.

  Kazuki turned his head sharply.

  Was something—no, someone—trying to break in?

  Or… was something else watching him?

  ---

  Back on the tower, Kairyuuha opened one eye.

  He smirked.

  “Still fighting… even in that place?”

  “Good. This will make your collapse even more satisfying.”

  But even as he spoke, the purple screen before him glitched—just for a moment. The word “Unknown Response Detected” flashed across it.

  He narrowed his eyes.

  “…That shouldn’t be possible.”