Lady Chõko's feet slid backward across the fractured stone.
One step.
Then another.
The instant her heel touched the edge of the shattered cliff, Raizen was already upon her.
"You're giving ground."
His grin widened as the Dimensional Sword swept downward with enough force to split the cliff beneath them.
Lady Chõko pivoted to the side.
The blade missed her by inches—
BOOOOM!!
The entire cliff face exploded apart. Millions of tons of rock crashed into the valley below, sending a deafening roar across the Blackstone Highlands. The shockwave raced over the surrounding peaks, stripping forests from distant mountainsides.
"You really don't know how to treat nature," Lady Chõko sighed while stepping onto a falling slab of stone.
Raizen laughed.
"Nature exists to be conquered!"
He kicked off another collapsing boulder, appearing above her with frightening speed.
Before his sword could descend—
The air twisted.
"...Spatial Fold."
Yurota calmly extended two fingers.
The space around Lady Chõko bent like rippling water.
Instead of moving left, her body was pulled diagonally upward.
Her own momentum betrayed her.
Raizen's eyes gleamed.
"Got you!"
Lady Chõko barely crossed her arms in time.
CRAAASH!!
The Dimensional Sword struck her guard, launching her through three towering stone pillars before she smashed into the side of another mountain.
The entire mountainside caved inward.
Rock and dust poured into the valley like a tidal wave.
Haruto's silver aura pulsed across the battlefield.
"...Second Pulse."
The light connected to every member of the Dimensional Clan.
Their breathing synchronized.
Their footsteps matched.
Even the timing of their attacks became almost identical.
Ayame smiled.
"I can feel everyone's rhythm."
"So can I," Hiroshi replied.
He raised his hand.
Behind him, another relic emerged from the Endless Archive.
It was a pair of metallic rings covered in ancient inscriptions.
"...Twin Orbit."
The rings spun into the sky before separating.
One circled high above the battlefield.
The other skimmed low across the broken ground.
Lady Chõko burst from the collapsing mountain just as the upper ring released dozens of glowing blades.
They didn't fall randomly.
Each blade adjusted its path in midair.
"Seeking weapons?" Lady Chõko murmured.
"Adaptive relics," Hiroshi corrected.
"They improve after every missed strike."
Lady Chõko smiled.
"That sounds troublesome."
She darted forward.
The blades chased her like a flock of silver birds.
Raizen met her head-on.
Their fists collided.
BOOM!!
A shockwave erupted outward, flattening everything within several hundred meters. The remaining peak beneath them shattered, and both warriors were launched into the sky.
Neither lost balance.
Neither stopped moving.
Raizen swung again.
Lady Chõko slipped beneath the blade.
Ayame appeared from the reflection on one of Hiroshi's orbiting rings.
"...Mirror Step."
She struck toward Lady Chõko's side.
Lady Chõko blocked with her elbow, but Ayame vanished before the counterattack could land, reappearing from another reflective surface several meters away.
"You disappear too much," Lady Chõko laughed.
Ayame smiled.
"That's the point."
Below them, Kaizen's glowing blue calculations expanded across the ruined landscape.
Countless geometric patterns spread over the broken mountains.
"...Prediction Route Forty-Seven."
He calmly pointed ahead.
"Raizen."
"Three steps right."
Raizen didn't question him.
He moved exactly as instructed.
Lady Chõko's eyes widened ever so slightly.
Instead of meeting empty air after avoiding Ayame's strike...
She found Raizen already waiting.
His fist slammed into her shoulder.
BOOOOM!!
The impact blasted her across the battlefield, tearing through a ridge that stretched for kilometers. The ridge split apart from end to end before collapsing into a newly formed canyon.
Raizen rested the Dimensional Sword against his shoulder, laughing loudly.
"Hahaha!"
"I told you!"
"No one survives the Dimensional Clan forever!"
Lady Chõko stood from the rubble, brushing dust from her torn sleeve.
She looked at the enormous canyon stretching behind her.
"...You're very confident."
"Damn right I am."
Raizen pointed his sword toward her.
"I don't care what legends say about you."
"I'll carve my own."
Lady Chõko nodded with a gentle smile.
"I like that answer."
"But..."
She looked toward Kaizen.
"...He's the reason your attacks keep finding me."
Kaizen didn't deny it.
"My calculations remove uncertainty."
"They're impressive."
Lady Chõko admitted.
"Almost."
That single word made Kaizen's expression stiffen.
"...Almost?"
She chuckled.
"No calculation is perfect."
Before anyone could react—
Lady Chõko stepped forward.
Not backward.
Forward.
Straight into the center of the six.
Raizen's grin disappeared.
For the first time since the battle began...
She had willingly entered the heart of their formation.
The wind stopped.
Dust hung motionless in the air.
Even Kaizen's calculations hesitated for the briefest instant.
Lady Chõko smiled.
"...Now..."
"...let's see how well all six of you work together."