The strange connection Haruto had felt slowly faded, but the silence inside the ancient sanctuary remained.
Haruto lowered his hand from his chest, his expression returning to normal.
"...It disappeared."
Raizen looked at him for a moment before shrugging.
"Then forget about it."
"I can't."
Haruto's answer came without hesitation.
"That soul... felt important."
Kaizen rested his chin on his hand.
"If your Resonance reacted like that, then eventually you'll meet that person."
"Perhaps."
Haruto quietly stepped back.
"I'll wait until that day."
Yurota finally pushed himself away from the ancient pillar he had been leaning against. His long coat swayed as he walked toward the center of the sanctuary.
Raizen smirked.
"Finally."
"You've been quiet long enough."
"I prefer watching."
"And today?"
Yurota looked around at the six members.
"...Today is different."
The air became unnaturally calm.
Unlike Raizen's destructive pressure...
Unlike Hiroshi's mysterious Archive...
Unlike Haruto's gentle Resonance...
Nothing seemed to happen.
Ayame narrowed her eyes.
"...He's already using it."
Haruto immediately noticed it too.
"The space around us..."
"...changed."
Yurota slowly raised one hand.
"My ability doesn't destroy."
"It doesn't freeze."
"It doesn't copy."
"It simply..."
"...changes reality."
A faint silver thread appeared in front of his fingertips.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
The threads stretched through the sanctuary like invisible strings connecting every wall, pillar, and monument.
They resembled the threads of a spider's web.
Beautiful.
Silent.
Dangerous.
Raizen crossed his arms.
"Reality Weave."
Yurota nodded.
"Everything that exists..."
"...occupies a position."
He gently pulled one of the glowing threads.
The result shocked everyone.
Without anyone moving...
Raizen suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the sanctuary.
"...Hm?"
He blinked once.
"I didn't move."
"You didn't."
Yurota calmly lowered his hand.
"I moved the space around you."
Haruto observed the threads carefully.
"So instead of teleporting someone..."
"...you relocate reality itself."
"Exactly."
Yurota smiled faintly.
"Distance is merely a relationship."
"If I change that relationship..."
"...far becomes near."
"...Near becomes far."
He flicked another thread.
An enormous stone pillar instantly exchanged places with a mountain-sized boulder across the chamber.
The transfer happened without sound.
Without light.
Without any explosion.
One moment they occupied different places.
The next...
They had simply switched.
Ayame admired the technique.
"No wasted movement."
"No wasted energy."
"Only precision."
Yurota nodded.
"I don't force reality."
"I persuade it."
Kaizen smiled.
"A frightening philosophy."
Raizen laughed.
"Can you use it in battle?"
Instead of answering...
Yurota looked directly at Raizen.
"Attack me."
Raizen grinned.
"I've been waiting to hear that."
He drew the Dimensional Sword in a single motion.
A black slash tore through the sanctuary, racing toward Yurota fast enough to split the air itself.
Yet...
Yurota never moved.
He merely touched one invisible thread.
The slash...
Suddenly appeared behind Raizen.
"...!"
Raizen twisted his body just in time as his own Dimensional Cut sliced through a distant wall.
Silence.
Even Hiroshi looked impressed.
"You redirected the path."
"I redirected reality."
Yurota corrected.
"The slash never changed."
"The world around it did."
Haruto folded his arms.
"So attacks become useless if you rewrite where they're going."
"Only if I understand the battlefield."
Yurota answered honestly.
"My Reality Weave has limits."
Kaizen immediately asked,
"What are they?"
"The more space I alter..."
"...the more concentration it demands."
"If I weave an entire battlefield..."
"...every thread must remain stable."
"If even one thread collapses..."
"...the entire weave becomes unstable."
Raizen sheathed his sword.
"So overwhelming power can break through?"
Yurota nodded.
"Enough force can tear my threads."
"Reality isn't unbreakable."
"It simply resists."
Ayame smiled.
"Every one of us has a weakness."
"And that's why we continue evolving."
For a moment, none of them spoke.
The seven stood beneath the ancient sanctuary, each possessing an ability capable of changing the fate of nations.
Yet none of them believed they had reached perfection.
Raizen suddenly laughed.
"We've introduced enough abilities."
"Who's next?"
Kaizen looked toward the elegant woman standing quietly near one of the broken monuments.
"Ayame."
The silver-haired woman looked up from her reflection in a cracked mirror lying on the floor.
She smiled gently.
"...Very well."
She picked up the broken mirror.
Its cracked surface reflected every member of the Dimensional Clan.
Then...
Without warning...
Every reflection smiled.
Except Ayame's.