Izumi shot forward without hesitation, catching Rika before she could be flung any farther through the Dimensional Void. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he gently pulled her into his embrace, stopping all of her momentum.
Slowly opening her eyes, Rika looked up at him and let out a long sigh.
"You win."
"From today onward... I belong to you."
"So go ahead. Do whatever you want with me."
There was no resistance in her voice—only resignation.
Perhaps...
This was simply fate.
For countless years, no one had ever managed to defeat her.
Yet today, someone finally had.
And not by a narrow margin.
It had been an overwhelming defeat.
Since that was the outcome, there was nothing left for her to argue.
There was no one else who qualified anymore.
Only Izumi.
Hearing those words, Izumi's lips twitched.
"You make it sound like I'm some kind of criminal forcing himself on you."
"Why are you acting so depressed?"
He gently set her back on her feet before complaining.
Rika curled her lips.
"Tch."
"You don't know anything."
"This lady is actually going to get married now."
"Do you even understand what that feels like?"
"...No, of course you don't."
"How could a shameless playboy like you ever understand how a girl feels?"
"All you ever care about is whether you get what you want."
She shot him a glare as she vented her frustration.
Izumi merely rubbed the back of his head helplessly.
"...Fine."
"I'm too lazy to argue about that right now."
"Let's head back first."
"We've drifted ridiculously far away."
Just the shockwave from their final clash had launched them an absurd distance through the Dimensional World.
Without another word, Izumi grasped Rika's hand.
The surrounding space rippled.
The two disappeared.
...
A moment later, they reappeared outside Izumi's world.
Just as they were about to enter the golden barrier protecting it, Izumi suddenly froze.
"...Hm?"
Rika blinked.
"What is it?"
Izumi's gaze fixed on a seemingly empty patch of space.
Following his line of sight, Rika looked over as well.
The moment she noticed it, her pupils contracted.
"How...?"
Izumi nodded slowly.
"So you saw it too."
"Then it wasn't my imagination."
"...Though with our level of perception, hallucinations were never likely."
After saying that, he immediately flew toward the anomaly.
Rika followed closely behind.
...
When they arrived, both of them fell silent.
Before them floated an almost imperceptible crack.
It was incredibly tiny.
Without extraordinary perception, no one would ever notice it.
Yet despite its size...
The endless energy permeating the Dimensional World was quietly being drawn into that microscopic fissure.
Looking at it, even Izumi didn't know what to say.
"...The Dimensional World... has cracked."
Rika stared blankly at the fissure.
As if responding to her words, the crack slowly widened.
Only by a fraction—
—but it was unmistakably growing.
Izumi frowned deeply.
"What do we do?"
"Can it be repaired?"
"...More importantly, how do you repair something like this?"
For the first time in a long while, he found himself completely at a loss.
His mind immediately replayed their battle.
Did we cause this?
Did our fight actually damage the Dimensional World itself?
After thinking for a moment, Rika slowly shook her head.
"I don't know."
"But if I'm right..."
"...this crack will only continue to grow."
She turned toward Izumi.
"We should gather the other Single-Digit beings."
"This isn't something the two of us should decide on alone."