A quiet ripple spread across the sanctuary floor.
Unlike Raizen's overwhelming pressure, nothing violent happened. There was no terrifying aura, no shaking earth, and no explosion of energy.
It was... quiet.
Almost too quiet.
Hiroshi stepped into the center of the chamber, adjusting the sleeve of his black uniform before looking at the others.
Raizen folded his arms with a grin.
"Don't disappoint me."
Hiroshi smiled politely.
"I never planned to."
Yurota leaned against a broken pillar.
"You've always preferred knowledge over destruction."
"Knowledge outlives destruction."
Hiroshi slowly raised his right hand.
"Many people misunderstand my ability."
"They think I simply store weapons."
He shook his head.
"...They're wrong."
The air behind him suddenly distorted.
A small crack appeared in empty space.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The cracks spread across the air like shattered glass before slowly unfolding into hundreds of floating black doors, each one engraved with glowing silver symbols.
The sanctuary fell silent.
Haruto looked upward.
"...Those weren't there before."
"They never are," Hiroshi replied calmly.
"The Endless Archive exists outside ordinary dimensions."
"I simply borrow its entrance."
One of the floating doors creaked open by itself.
Inside...
There was no room.
No walls.
No ceiling.
Only an endless black void filled with countless glowing objects stretching farther than anyone could see.
Ancient swords.
Spears.
Books.
Armor.
Chains.
Broken crowns.
Masks.
Scrolls.
Even strange objects whose purpose could no longer be understood.
Thousands...
No...
Millions of relics floated endlessly inside the darkness.
Ayame's eyes softened.
"I forgot how vast it was."
Raizen laughed.
"I still think it's cheating."
Hiroshi ignored him.
"The Endless Archive is a dimensional library."
"It records civilizations."
"It preserves history."
"It stores techniques."
"It safeguards relics."
"It remembers what the world forgets."
He reached inside one of the doors.
When he pulled his hand back...
An old silver spear rested in his grip.
Its blade shimmered with ancient blue runes.
"This spear belonged to a warrior king who disappeared over three thousand years ago."
He gently tossed it into the air.
Instead of falling...
The spear dissolved into countless particles before returning to the Archive.
Another door opened.
This time, Hiroshi removed an old leather book.
"The Archive doesn't only preserve weapons."
"It stores knowledge."
He flipped through the pages.
"The fighting style..."
"...the language..."
"...the memories connected to this book..."
"...all remain preserved."
Haruto looked at him.
"So nothing is ever truly lost?"
Hiroshi smiled.
"As long as I witness it..."
"...I can preserve it."
Kaizen rested his chin on his hand.
"Explain the limitation."
Hiroshi nodded.
"Of course."
"I cannot store something I have never perceived."
"If I never see it..."
"...I cannot archive it."
"If a technique surpasses my understanding..."
"...I cannot recreate it."
He closed the ancient book.
"The Archive rewards observation."
"It does not reward imagination."
Yurota smiled faintly.
"That's fitting."
Raizen looked around the sanctuary.
"So besides collecting antiques..."
"...what makes it dangerous?"
Hiroshi chuckled softly.
"You only think about fighting."
"Because fighting is fun."
Hiroshi sighed before extending both hands.
"Very well."
One hundred doors opened simultaneously.
The sanctuary instantly filled with ancient weapons floating behind him.
Blades.
Axes.
Chains.
Lances.
Hammers.
Each radiated a different presence.
"I don't need to carry weapons."
"The Archive carries them for me."
With a small movement of his finger...
Every weapon fired forward at once.
The air screamed as hundreds of ancient relics shot across the sanctuary with impossible precision before stopping only inches from Raizen's face.
Raizen didn't even blink.
"Heh."
The weapons slowly turned into light before returning through the floating doors.
Ayame smiled.
"You've become even more efficient."
"I've had thousands of years to improve."
Kaizen suddenly asked,
"Can you archive abilities?"
The chamber became quiet.
Hiroshi answered honestly.
"...Not completely."
"I cannot steal someone's power."
"But..."
"If I study an ability long enough..."
"...the Archive records its structure."
"I can recreate fragments of it."
Haruto narrowed his eyes.
"So the more battles you witness..."
"...the stronger you become."
"Exactly."
Raizen laughed loudly.
"No wonder I hated fighting you."
"You'd learn something every time."
Hiroshi smiled.
"And you never stopped charging straight at me."
"I still won't."
Yurota shook his head.
"Some things truly never change."
Just then...
One of the floating doors suddenly trembled.
Hiroshi's smile faded.
"...Hm."
Ayame noticed immediately.
"Something wrong?"
He stared quietly at the doorway.
"...The Archive..."
"...just recorded something."
Everyone looked at him.
"But..."
"...no one here used an ability."
The sanctuary fell completely silent.
Kaizen slowly stood from the broken pillar.
"...What did it record?"
Hiroshi closed his eyes, listening to the countless whispers flowing through the Endless Archive.
After several seconds...
He opened them again.
His usually calm expression had changed.
"...A new energy."
"...One that shouldn't exist."
Raizen's grin slowly disappeared.
"...Where?"
Hiroshi looked toward the distant horizon...
In the direction of...
Reikosha Academy.