The assault didn’t stop.

  Every version of Two moved in perfect synchronization, their weapons flashing as they unleashed another relentless barrage. The air cracked with continuous gunfire, a storm of bullets aimed directly at Khem. But he didn’t move. He couldn’t. Khem remained locked in his defensive stasis, the world outside his shield a chaotic blur. The bullets struck, rebounded, and ricocheted wildly, but the attack never ceased. Two wasn’t giving him time to breathe, much less counterattack. The sheer number of them made escape impossible. For the first time, Khem realized the danger wasn’t just the clones—it was the fact that he was trapped. If he dropped his stasis even for a second, he’d be torn apart.

  Elsewhere, in what seemed like reality—

  Samui’s fingers flew across the scanner interface, her pulse racing. "Something’s wrong. Khem’s signal just—it’s unstable."

  Senshi’s jaw clenched. "Unstable how?"

  "It’s still there, but... it’s not here." Samui’s voice was tight with frustration. "It’s like he just—vanished."

  Shining frowned, his usually relaxed demeanor sharpening. "Can you track him?"

  Samui gritted her teeth. "I’m trying. His vitals are normal, but the location data is—distorted."

  Weird exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Great. So the guy with the most unbreakable defense just disappeared without a trace. That’s not unsettling at all."

  Senshi’s hands curled into fists. "We find him. Now."

  Two’s eyes narrowed as he observed Khem standing unharmed within his stasis field. The bullets had been useless. The sheer volume of firepower meant nothing if they couldn’t touch him. With an exhale of nervousness, Two flicked his wrist, and reality itself seemed to ripple. "Alright. Let’s try something different." In an instant, Khem felt the world around him twist again—a violent pull, as if being yanked through existence itself. The surroundings blurred, colors bleeding together, and then, he was back.

  Khem staggered, the familiar weight of real gravity settling on him once more. The others were there—Samui, Senshi, Shining, and Weird—all staring at him, weapons half-raised.

  Samui’s eyes widened. "Khem?!"

  Shining took a step back. "What the hell just happened? You just—"

  Before Khem could even catch his breath, his instincts screamed at him. The air still carried Two’s presence. He turned sharply, scanning their surroundings. This wasn’t over.

  His voice came out sharp, urgent. "It’s an ambush!"

  Two frowned. "One down. Let’s see how the strategist fares."

  Without warning, Samui’s vision blurred. The ground beneath her felt like it collapsed inward, warping into an endless void. Gravity twisted. The sky inverted. The rest of SOF flickered like distant afterimages, vanishing as she was dragged into Two’s world. Suddenly, she was alone. Except she wasn’t. Multiple versions of Two emerged, stepping out of the shifting darkness, their gazes locked onto her. "Khem made the mistake of waiting. Let’s see if you do better." Then they attacked. A relentless storm of gunfire erupted from every direction. Bullets streaked through the air, converging on Samui like a closing cage. The deafening roar of the assault filled her ears, echoing endlessly in the warping void. The clones moved with eerie precision, their attacks overlapping, ensuring no gaps, no escape routes. Samui barely had time to react before the bullets were upon her. But she was ready. With a flick of her wrist, she activated the remote hidden in her sleeve. The device pulsed in her hand, the interface responding instantly. Rewind. The world lurched. The storm of bullets reversed course, vanishing into their barrels. The clones flickered, their movements unraveling, the warping void dissolving as reality snapped backward. One moment, Samui had been in Two’s world. The next, she was back. She gasped as real gravity took hold, staggering backward into the real world where SOF stood. Her pulse pounded, her body remembering the chaos she had narrowly escaped.

  Shining turned sharply. "Samui?!"

  Two’s smirk faltered. "Well. That’s new."

  Samui didn’t hesitate. "We don’t give him a third shot."

  Two narrowed his eyes, considering his next move. Attacking individually wasn’t working. They had countermeasures. That meant he needed to shift strategies—control the battlefield itself. Reality warped again, but this time, it wasn’t targeting one person. The entire environment around SOF flickered violently before snapping back to reality. The warped landscape collapsed, seamlessly blending into the real world as if the illusion had never existed. The transition left an eerie sense of disorientation, as if time itself had stuttered. A deep metallic groan cut through the air. Then—BOOM! The distortion was gone. Their communicators, once plagued with interference, now transmitted crystal-clear signals.

  Khem clenched his fists, his mind racing. His instincts screamed at him—this wasn’t just an attack, it was a complete separation. Two was trying to break them, isolate them, and dismantle them one by one.

  Then, Two’s attention turned to Senshi. The floor beneath Senshi shimmered, the solid ground dissolving into a molten inferno. Heat surged upward, distorting the air with rippling waves of fire. Two’s mocking voice rang out, almost sing-song. "Watch out! The floor is lava!"

  Senshi barely hesitated. His eyes locked onto the molten sea at his feet, then he moved. With a sharp gesture, he pulled out a dragon scroll, unfurling it swiftly. "RYU!" he shouted, channeling his power into the parchment. From its ancient markings, a human-sized dragon emerged, its form coiling in the air before solidifying. Wings flared, the beast was just large enough to lift Senshi out of danger.

  Two’s smirk widened as he casually lifted a rifle, but then his expression twitched, his grin faltering as a sudden sharp pain shot through his head. "Let’s see how long you can—ahh…!" His voice cracked, his fingers tightening around the weapon before suddenly slackening. He stumbled, gripping his head as if battling something unseen. Then, a guttural growl escaped his throat, his entire body tensing violently. His smirk twisted into a snarl, and his breathing became ragged, erratic. The moment of weakness was gone—replaced by raw, unchecked rage.

  Senshi didn't hesitate. "Ryu, now!" he commanded, and the dragon swooped down, its wings cutting through the heated air. Timing his movement perfectly, Senshi leaped off the dragon, using the momentum to launch himself forward. Twisting mid-air, he drove a powerful kick straight into Two’s head, aiming to knock him off balance. The impact landed solidly, snapping Two’s head to the side. He staggered, his footing momentarily faltering as he took a step back, his snarl twisting into something even more feral. For a split second, his body stiffened—his consciousness flickering like a failing light. The battlefield trembled, and then, almost seamlessly, the distorted environment around SOF faded away. The shift was so subtle it was hard to tell exactly when the illusion had ended—it simply ceased to exist, leaving them standing in the real world once more.

  Before SOF could react, a sudden crash split the air above them. The warehouse roof groaned, beams snapping under a tremendous force. A deafening explosion of dust and debris erupted as something massive came plummeting through— A road roller—falling straight toward them. The hulking mass of metal hurtled downward, forcing SOF to scatter in an instant. "Are you serious?!" Weird shouted as he dove out of the way, barely avoiding getting flattened. "Is that a freaking road roller?!"

  "How did he even—?!" Samui started but cut herself off, twisting to avoid a chunk of debris.

  Shining’s eyes flicked upward for a split second, disbelief flickering across his usually composed face. "This has to be the most ridiculous attack yet."

  Senshi barely landed on his feet, his dragon wings dispersing. "Only he would think of something like this."

  Khem, unshaken, simply sidestepped the impact zone. "Stay sharp. This is just the start." The ground shook as it crashed with a thunderous BOOM, sending shockwaves through the structure. Chunks of debris flew in every direction, forcing the team to regain their footing. As the dust settled, the unmistakable silhouette of Two emerged atop the wreckage, his wild grin stretched unnaturally wide.

  "Miss me?" he sneered, one hand resting lazily on the massive vehicle as if he had simply driven it in through the roof.

  Weird dusted off his jacket, exhaling sharply. "I gotta say, that was the single most unnecessary, over-the-top entrance I’ve ever seen."

  He gestured at the wreckage. "Seriously, man. You had an entire arsenal of ways to kill us, and you went with this? What's next, dropping a cathedral on us? A comet? Maybe a giant boot from the sky?"

  Two's grin twitched, amusement flickering in his eyes. Without another word, he slammed his foot down on the accelerator.

  The road roller lurched forward—at a speed no road roller should ever be capable of. The massive machine surged toward SOF, the screech of its wheels cutting through the warehouse like a jet engine.

  "Oh, come on!" Weird yelled, throwing himself sideways as the monstrous vehicle nearly clipped him. "That thing is NOT supposed to move that fast!"

  Two laughed wildly, gripping the controls with one hand while leaning into the charge. "Let's see who gets flattened first!"

  The road roller tore across the warehouse, crushing debris in its path as SOF scattered to avoid being turned into pavement. But just as it bore down on Weird, inches away from smashing him— It stopped. Or rather—it never actually touched him. Abruptly. The grinding howl of metal halted in an instant, the machine coming to an unnatural stop, just inches from Weird’s face.

  Weird, completely unfazed, dusted off his jacket and glanced at Two with a smirk. "Oh, so you know."

  Two’s eye twitched. The road roller trembled, its weight shifting unnaturally. His eyes widened in realization, his grip tightening on the controls. In that split second, he remembered—he wasn’t supposed to hit Weird. "Damn it—!" he snarled, jerking the controls. Two’s eye twitched, his jaw clenching before he spat out a sharp curse under his breath. "Tch... Should’ve known better." Without another word, his body blurred—and he vanished. A moment of silence followed, then—

  CRASH!

  Out of nowhere, massive objects came plummeting from the sky, each one aimed precisely at the SOF members. Chunks of metal, broken structures, even what looked like entire vehicles rained down in an attempt to crush them where they stood. Everyone instinctively moved, dodging the falling wreckage as it crashed around them. "EVERYONE, MOVE!" Shining shouted.

  Weird, standing exactly where he had been, crossed his arms. "Why? It’s not like it’s gonna hit me."

  True to his words, a massive steel beam that should have crushed him instead crumbled into dust the instant it made contact. He sighed, shaking his head. "This is just unfair. I can't even reflect them?! What's the point if they just fall apart before I get a chance?!"

  The team scattered, dodging the relentless downpour of destruction. Samui barely avoided a collapsing chunk of concrete, while Senshi used the dragon’s agility to keep airborne, narrowly escaping an entire wrecked train car crashing into the floor. But something was off. Every single object that came close to Weird—whether a boulder, a steel beam, or even a full-sized truck—crumbled into nothing the instant it touched him. Weird barely even glanced at the destruction around him, watching as another massive slab of debris disintegrated mid-air before it could reach him. "...What?" Weird muttered, staring at the crumbling wreckage around him. He lifted a hand as another massive slab of debris simply dissolved into dust before reaching him. His brows furrowed, genuinely confused. "Wait. Why?" He took a step forward, watching a falling steel beam disintegrate the moment it entered his space. "Why is this happening? What the hell did he do?"

  Samui’s scanner beeped rapidly as she analyzed the anomaly. "This doesn’t make sense… The objects aren’t just breaking apart—they’re being completely erased at a structural level. It’s like they can’t exist near you."

  Weird squinted at the latest chunk of debris dissolving into dust before it could touch him. "Okay, but… why? Is it Two’s doing?"

  Samui adjusted the scanner, her fingers flying over the interface. "No... this isn't a mistake. Two intended for it to work this way." The way it’s happening—there’s no external force acting on the objects. It’s more like reality is correcting itself. Like he deliberately engineered the attack to avoid triggering your rebound ability.""

  Shining barely dodged another falling beam and glanced toward Weird. "So, what? The universe is playing favorites now?"

  Weird frowned, tilting his head as he experimentally stepped toward a falling slab of metal. The moment he got close, it crumbled to dust like all the others. His expression darkened. "That’s… unsettling."

  Samui didn’t stop working, her mind racing through the data her scanner was pulling in. "This isn't just an automatic reaction," she muttered, refining her scans. "Two’s ability works on a set of conditions. Every time he’s attacked, something dictates whether or not it happens."

  Shining, keeping his distance from the falling wreckage, shot her a glance. "So he’s not just throwing raw chaos at us?"

  Samui shook her head. "No. Everything he does follows rules—even the way he manipulates the battlefield. If we understand those rules, we can predict him. Maybe even break his control."

  Senshi narrowed his eyes, still airborne. "That’s great and all, but how do we figure it out before we get crushed?"

  Weird, still watching the debris turn to dust around him, scowled. "Yeah, because right now, it feels like we’re making theories while he’s still playing god."

  Samui’s fingers tightened on her scanner. "We don’t have time for experiments. Everyone, regroup!"

  Khem reacted first, moving toward the center as the others quickly followed, dodging the relentless downpour of debris.

  "Weird, you cover us!" Samui ordered, adjusting her scanner as she ran. "Stay in the middle—let’s see if this effect extends to everything around you."

  Weird glanced up as a massive steel column came crashing toward them. He didn’t move. The moment it entered his space, it crumbled into dust, vanishing like the rest.

  Shining let out a breath. "Well. That’s convenient."

  Senshi landed next to them, his eyes scanning the chaos. "He’s funneling us into one spot. We need a plan before he forces us into another trap."

  Samui nodded, her eyes sharp. "Then let’s figure this out fast."

  A sharp shift in the air sent alarms through her instincts. Without warning, the debris stopped falling. The chaos stilled, an unnatural silence swallowing the battlefield. Then— Two struck. A blur of motion. A snap of displaced air. He was on her in an instant. A force like a battering ram slammed into Samui’s side, launching her backward. Her breath tore from her lungs as she twisted midair, barely catching herself before she could crash into the ground. She skidded across the ruined floor, sparks flying as her boots scraped against the wreckage. Two landed effortlessly where she had been standing, his predatory grin twisting into something manic, his breath uneven as he let out a sharp, ragged laugh. "You—haha—you're quick! You actually moved! You weren’t supposed to move! I wanted to see you break first!" His fingers twitched as he tilted his head sharply, as if his own thoughts were racing too fast to keep up with. "Thinking, thinking, thinking. That’s all you do. Always analyzing. Always digging. You think you can pick me apart? Solve me like a puzzle? Let’s see how well you think when I’m ripping your mind apart!" Then, as if a switch had flipped, his manic grin stretched wider. "Since you’re so smart, I’ll reward you." His voice dripped with mock generosity. "Let me show you my world." Then, without warning—he vanished.

  The air trembled. A strange, distorted reflection rippled across the sky above them. It was their world. Their battlefield. But duplicated. An inverted version of reality hovered just kilometers above, as if the world had been cloned and flipped upside down. The sky now carried Two’s world, a surreal mirror image of their own—but it wasn’t empty. Hundreds of versions of Two lined the floating battlefield, each wielding a different firearm, their figures eerily silhouetted against the mirrored landscape. From their perspective, SOF was beneath them.

  From SOF’s perspective, they were looking up at a sky full of Two—

  And then the gunfire rained down.

  "Ryu!" Senshi roared, unfurling another scroll. This time, the dragon that erupted was massive, its wings stretching wide as it coiled around the team. The beast let out a deafening roar, its scales shimmering as it shielded SOF from the relentless barrage. Bullets and energy blasts struck its hide, deflecting harmlessly off its reinforced form. The air filled with the sound of ricochets and distorted impact waves, but the dragon held firm, its presence an impenetrable barrier between SOF and the raining death from above.

  Shining, still catching his breath from dodging earlier, turned to Samui. "Alright, genius—what's next? We can't just sit here forever!"

  Samui's eyes flicked between her scanner and the distorted sky, her mind racing. Then, it clicked.

  "Parallel worlds," she whispered. "That's how he’s doing this. That isn’t just an illusion—it's another version of reality."

  Khem's gaze sharpened. "You’re saying he’s pulling us into a separate plane?"

  Samui nodded, her voice urgent. "It’s why everything flickers, why Khem vanished earlier, why I was able to rewind out. Two isn’t just shifting space—he's overlaying a parallel world directly above us. We’re in the real world, but he’s summoning another battlefield in the sky and using it to attack from above."

  Weird crossed his arms, watching bullets bounce off the dragon’s scales. "Great. So he’s got a whole realities to screw with us in. That’s just fantastic."

  Senshi narrowed his eyes at the sky. "Then we need to figure out how to reach his world—or pull him into ours."

  Samui tightened her grip on the scanner. "Exactly. And I think I know where to start." Her fingers moved rapidly over the interface, scanning the distortions rippling through the air. "If this is a parallel world, then there has to be a bridge. Some kind of anchor keeping the two connected. If we disrupt that, we might be able to force them to collapse into one."

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Senshi adjusted his stance, eyes still on the mirrored world above. "Then while you find that, we keep the pressure up."

  Khem gave a slight nod, stepping forward. "I’ll hold our defense. Senshi, can you get close enough to disrupt the mirror plane?"

  Senshi’s grip tightened around the scrolls at his waist. "I can try." Without hesitation, he reached for another parchment, unfurling it in a smooth motion. "Ryu!" he roared.

  A second, even larger dragon erupted from the scroll, its wings spreading wide as it let out a thundering cry. Senshi leaped onto its back, and with a powerful flap of its wings, the dragon launched skyward—straight toward the mirrored battlefield above.

  Samui barely glanced up, focused entirely on pinpointing the distortion that held the two worlds together. "Shining, stay close. If I can isolate the transition point, I’ll need you to help me break it."

  Shining cracked his knuckles. "Just say the word."

  Weird watched Senshi ascend, then muttered, "Hope he doesn’t get shot out of the sky."

  The dragon roared as it soared higher, closing the distance toward the hundreds of Twos waiting above—who now turned their weapons toward Senshi instead. A relentless barrage of bullets and energy blasts rained down, forcing Senshi to weave through the incoming fire. The dragon twisted midair, dodging the worst of it, but even its massive form couldn't avoid everything. Sparks and smoke erupted as shots skimmed across its armored scales. Senshi gritted his teeth. "Almost there..."

  Below, Samui's scanner beeped wildly. She had found it—the anchor point, the distorted seam where the two realities overlapped. "There! That’s the connection! If we disrupt it, the worlds should collapse back together!"

  "Then let's end this!" Senshi growled, gripping another scroll. With a surge of energy, the dragon unleashed a blazing torrent of fire straight toward the anchor. The instant the attack connected, the air shuddered. A violent ripple surged across the mirrored world, distorting its shape like a cracked reflection on glass. Then, Two’s world vanished. For a brief moment, everything was still.

  Samui's scanner stabilized, the interference clearing up. She let out a slow breath. "We did it. We cut the anchor."

  Shining rolled his shoulders, exhaling sharply. "Finally, some progress."

  Weird crossed his arms, glancing around. "Huh. That almost felt too easy."

  Then, A low, distorted chuckle echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once. The air rippled violently, and without warning—

  BOOM!

  The mirrored world snapped back into existence, but this time, it was worse. Above them, the sky no longer just held copies of Two armed with guns. Now, the floating battlefield was an active warzone—mortar fire, turrets, and massive cannons lined the horizon, their barrels swiveling to lock onto SOF’s position. Two’s voice rang out, laced with unhinged amusement. "Did you really think you could break my world so easily? That was cute. Now, let’s crank things up!" The sky lit up with fire, artillery shells and high-caliber rounds screaming downward—not just toward SOF, but across the entire city. Buildings erupted into flames, their skeletal frames crumbling under the force of the bombardment. Entire streets split apart, sending cars and debris hurtling through the air like ragdolls. The relentless bombardment shattered entire districts. Skyscrapers buckled, their glass facades bursting into lethal shrapnel that rained down onto the fleeing civilians below. Fires spread rapidly, consuming whole city blocks as sirens wailed futilely beneath the deafening roar of war. Shockwaves rippled outward, toppling bridges and tearing apart subway lines, sending plumes of dust and wreckage skyward. The screams of the helpless rose beneath the cacophony of destruction, a city on the brink of absolute ruin.

  "He’s not just aiming at us anymore!" Shining shouted over the deafening chaos.

  Samui’s eyes widened as her scanner flared with warning signals. "He’s escalated—he’s turning this into total annihilation!"

  Two’s laughter rang out, wild and untamed. "If I can’t have control, then let’s see how well you do in a world that doesn’t need saving anymore!"

  Samui blocked out the chaos around her—the explosions, the gunfire, the dragon’s powerful wings beating against the storm of destruction. Her focus was locked onto the distortion in the air, the unnatural seam between worlds where Two’s power was strongest. "This is the anchor," she muttered, her fingers flying over the interface. "I can break it again, but I need time."

  "Then you’ve got it," Shining said immediately, stepping in front of her. His eyes scanned the battlefield, tracking Two’s movements. "We’ll cover you—just do what you need to do."

  Khem planted himself beside them, his stance unshakable. "They won’t get through."

  Senshi, still guiding the dragon, twisted in midair. "They’re already locking onto us!"

  From above, the turrets and mortars adjusted, their barrels swiveling. The next barrage was coming. Two’s voice rang out, wild and mocking. "You’re really trying this again?! I love it! Let’s see how much punishment you can take before you give up!" A fresh wave of explosions erupted, streaking toward them.

  "Here it comes!" Senshi shouted. The dragon coiled tightly, shielding Samui while she tightened her focus, fingers flying over her scanner, locking onto the exact frequency of the distortion. The chaotic battlefield blurred at the edges of her vision as she muttered under her breath, "Almost there... just a little more." The dragon shuddered under the force of another impact, but held strong. Shining deflected a blast with a sharp movement, his stance unwavering. "Samui, how much longer?!"

  "Seconds!" she shot back. "Just keep them off me!"

  Khem took his position at her side, his impenetrable presence like a fortress against the incoming destruction. "They won’t get through."

  Senshi's dragon roared as another wave of shells screamed toward them, their trajectories unpredictable, the onslaught relentless. But the moment was close—Samui could feel it. The anchor point trembled, flickering in and out of sync with their reality.

  "Got it!" she shouted, just as the next blast slammed into their defense. The moment of truth was upon them.

  With a final keystroke, Samui sent a surge of energy into the distortion—but something was wrong.

  Her scanner flared with red warnings an instant before impact. The moment her attack should have connected, the distortion collapsed prematurely. The battlefield shattered into nothingness, but not from her doing.

  Samui's eyes widened. "Wait—he severed it himself!" She realized too late—Two had preemptively cut his own anchor, erasing the connection before they could disrupt it. He hadn’t let them destroy his world; he had abandoned it on his own terms.

  For a second, silence reigned. Two’s world vanished once more.

  Then—BOOM.

  A pulse of raw force erupted overhead, sending shockwaves through the sky. The atmosphere rippled violently, and suddenly, the distortion returned, but now it was... different. The sky above was no longer just a reflection of their battlefield—it was something unnatural.

  Samui’s stomach twisted. He anticipated their counterattack. He let them believe they had won—then rewrote everything into something even worse. Towering futuristic structures loomed above, their surfaces shifting with glowing circuitry. Enormous turrets and energy cannons lined the skyline, their barrels locking into position. The machinery looked beyond anything that should exist in this world, technology far beyond comprehension.

  Two’s voice rang out once more, a distorted, static-filled cackle. "You’re persistent—I’ll give you that! But I’m done playing games. Let’s take this to the next level." The futuristic war machines activated at once. A monstrous energy barrage erupted, the cannons unleashing disintegration beams that sliced through the air with terrifying precision. Streets, buildings, entire blocks vanished in an instant, reduced to nothing but void. The city was no longer just burning—it was being erased.

  Shining clenched his fists. "This just got a whole lot worse."

  Samui’s breath hitched as her scanner flared with alerts, struggling to register the impossible energy signatures bombarding them. "This isn’t just a parallel world anymore. Two is... rewriting everything."

  Two’s laughter crackled through the chaos. "Let’s see how long you last when reality itself is against you!"

  Samui clenched her jaw, forcing herself to push past the rising panic. They had tried twice now, and both times, Two had been a step ahead. "We need to surprise him," she muttered under her breath, her fingers working furiously over her scanner. "He's predicting every move and cutting the anchor before we can sever it ourselves. If we don't throw him off, we’ll never break his control."

  Shining glanced at her sharply. "So what’s the plan? Whatever we do, it has to make him commit."

  Samui's mind raced. Two was watching them too closely. If they made another obvious attempt, he would erase the anchor again. The only way to win was to catch him off guard. She exhaled sharply. "We have to make him think we're doing something else—keep his focus on the wrong threat while we take the real shot. We need a distraction. A big one. Something so convincing he has no choice but to engage directly."

  Senshi, still maneuvering his dragon through the storm of destruction, called down, "Then give me the signal—I’ll make sure he never sees it coming. But this is my last scroll.""

  Samui’s grip tightened. "Then let’s do this fast—before he rewrites the world again."

  Senshi took a deep breath, tightening his grip on the final scroll. He knew this was it—his last summon, his last push. If this failed, they wouldn’t get another chance. "Ryu!" he roared, unfurling the parchment in one swift motion. The air crackled as the largest dragon yet erupted from the scroll, its body coiling through the battlefield like a living storm. Its wings spanned across the sky, blotting out parts of Two’s world above. A piercing roar shook the battlefield as the beast rose, charging straight toward the mirrored war zone overhead.

  Two’s gaze snapped upward. His grin faltered for a fraction of a second before twisting into something sharper, more predatory. "Oh? Going all-in? I like it." The turrets and cannons immediately adjusted, shifting to lock onto the dragon as it soared through the sky. Senshi rode atop it, dodging through the onslaught, making sure every set of eyes—every version of Two—was locked onto him.

  Meanwhile, down below, Samui’s fingers flew over her scanner. "Shining, Weird—get ready. We need to make him think we’re attacking the wrong anchor."

  Shining cracked his knuckles. "On it."

  Weird smirked. "Let’s sell it."

  Together, they moved toward a distortion on the battlefield—one that looked identical to the real anchor point Samui had located. As Two focused on Senshi, Shining and Weird made a show of preparing to ‘disrupt’ it, their energy surging as if readying an attack.

  Two’s eyes flickered downward, a knowing grin spreading across his face. "Tsk, tsk, so predictable. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?" He snapped his fingers. The false anchor collapsed instantly, erased before they could even attack it.

  But Samui smirked. That’s exactly what she wanted. "Now!" she shouted, locking onto the real anchor. With a final keystroke, she launched the disruption sequence.

  The battlefield shuddered violently. Two’s world—his rewritten reality—began to fracture. Above them, the sky cracked apart, the once-monolithic warzone breaking into fragmented pieces. The towering futuristic turrets and cannons flickered, their structures distorting like corrupted data. Two’s world was collapsing. And then, from the shattered heavens—Two fell. His body plummeted through the fractured air, limbs flailing as the force of the collapse yanked him downward. The momentary loss of control stripped him of his usual smug composure—just raw instinct and impact remained. Senshi’s eyes narrowed. "I’ve got him." With a sharp pull of the reins, Senshi’s dragon dived, adjusting its trajectory to intercept Two’s descent. The beast twisted mid-air, angling its massive form beneath him. At the last second, Two’s body crashed onto the dragon’s back, the impact sending a deep tremor through its scales. Even with the cushion of the dragon’s body, the force was still enough to incapacitate him.

  Senshi landed alongside the rest of SOF as the dragon hovered just above the ground, lowering Two’s motionless form to the dirt. His breathing was ragged, his body twitching faintly, but he was down.

  Samui approached cautiously, her scanner locking onto him. "He’s alive, but barely. His vitals are unstable."

  Shining stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Good. Then we have time for answers."

  Weird crossed his arms. "If he even wakes up, that is."

  But before they could restrain him, a deep, guttural laugh rattled from Two’s throat. His body jerked, fingers twitching erratically as his breathing grew uneven. Then, slowly, his lips curled into a wide, twisted grin. "Oh," he rasped. "You think this is over?" The ground beneath them trembled. The air itself warped. Two lifted his arm weakly, but the sheer weight of his presence intensified. He was at his limit—but even now, he wasn’t finished. His voice, though ragged, rang with manic triumph. His grin widened, splitting into something almost inhuman as he rasped, "If I'm going down, I'm taking your world with me!" "I’ll show you… the real end. Crash of World."

  The sky split apart. Two’s entire parallel world—the futuristic battlefield, the advanced war machines, the towering structures—began to collapse downward, plummeting toward the real world like a falling continent. Then the pull began. A deep, deafening hum vibrated through the air, and suddenly, the very fabric of reality twisted. The sheer mass of Two’s world crashing down created a monstrous gravitational force, a powerful magnetic pull that ripped through the battlefield like an unseen storm. Everything lurched upward. Streets cracked apart as entire buildings, vehicles, and debris were wrenched into the sky, pulled toward the descending nightmare above. The force was so strong that even the ground itself began to fracture and rise, as if the earth was rejecting its own existence. SOF felt it immediately—their bodies being lifted, their movements sluggish against the immense pull of Two’s dying world.

  "This is insane!" Shining yelled, his arms straining as he tried to brace against the force pulling him skyward.

  "We need a plan! NOW!" Samui shouted, gripping onto a piece of shattered concrete that was already breaking loose.

  Senshi’s dragon flapped its wings furiously, trying to counteract the pull, but even it was being dragged upward. "I can't hold us in place for long!"

  Weird, floating slightly off the ground, grimaced. "You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s literally trying to erase the whole damn world!"

  Khem, still managing to stay grounded, dug his heels into the crumbling terrain. "We can’t let this happen. If his world crashes into ours, we’re finished."

  Debris, vehicles, and even entire buildings were now ascending into the abyss, spiraling toward the collapsing mass above them. The city's skyline twisted unnaturally, the weight of Two’s world bending reality itself.

  Samui’s scanner flared with red warnings, her fingers trembling as she tried to process the calculations. "If we don’t stop this now, it won’t just destroy the city—it’ll erase everything!"*

  A massive, unavoidable impact was coming. But first, everything was going to be dragged into oblivion.

  Then—a blinding beam of light shot up into the sky. The sheer force of its presence tore through the battlefield like a divine spear, piercing straight into Two's collapsing world. The instant it connected, the massive, monstrous construct began to disintegrate. The war machines, the towering fortresses, the twisted remnants of Two’s parallel dimension—all of it dissolved into dust, spreading outward like an obliterated planet. The entire world, once an imminent force of destruction, vanished before it could ever reach the real one.

  For a long, deafening moment, there was silence.

  SOF stood frozen, the weight of what had almost happened pressing into their chests. The sky was clear—no more unnatural warzones, no more collapsing dimensions. The pull was gone. The air was still.

  Shining let out a slow breath, his voice shaking slightly. "What... just happened?"

  Weird exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of his head. "Not that I'm complaining, but... what the hell was that?"

  Senshi, still clutching his dragon’s reins, narrowed his eyes and scanned the surroundings. "That attack—someone else intervened."

  Samui, catching her breath, glanced around quickly, her scanner frantically pulling in data. Then, her gaze locked onto a single figure standing atop the wreckage.

  A lone silhouette, motionless, watching them. The figure stepped forward, moving with unhurried, deliberate steps, the light of the fading destruction casting an eerie glow around them. They walked toward Two’s motionless body, their gaze unreadable. Even as debris still crumbled in the aftermath, they showed no urgency—no concern. The weight of their presence alone was enough to freeze SOF in place, watching. A few meters away, they finally spoke. "I expected nothing less from you, Two. Always reckless. Always desperate." The voice was measured, devoid of surprise. "You were never meant for command."

  Two, still barely conscious, let out a sharp, pained laugh. His body twitched as he tried to lift his head, his voice a strained rasp. "Tch... You—you knew? Then... what are you waiting for? Save me. We’re on the same side."

  The figure didn’t respond.

  Two’s breath hitched. His fingers curled into weak fists. "You heard me! This is bigger than just me! I did what was necessary! We follow the same orders—"

  A sharp hum split the air. In a flash, a beam of light tore through the battlefield. The attack was instantaneous—there was no buildup, no charge time. Just a single, precise shot.

  Two’s body vanished. Not burned, not blasted—gone.

  The ground where he had been lying remained untouched. There was no explosion, no debris, no lingering traces. It was as if he had never existed in the first place.

  The battlefield fell into stunned silence.

  SOF barely had time to process what had just happened. The figure lowered their hand, unfazed, as if wiping an insect from existence.

  Shining’s gaze darkened. "That was…"

  Samui’s fingers tightened around her scanner, her mind racing through everything they had just witnessed. The method, the execution, the terrifying efficiency. There was no doubt. "That power…" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the wind. "He’s one of the Special Officer Force high-ranking members."

  Weird exhaled sharply, crossing his arms. "Well, that’s just great. So, is this our cue to start running? Or are we gonna ask nicely if he's actually here to kill us?"

  Senshi adjusted his stance, his grip firm on his last remaining scroll. "We get answers first."

  Samui stepped forward, her voice steady despite the tension thickening in the air. "You’re one of Wise’s people. Is that true? Are you really on his side?"

  For a moment, the figure simply watched them. Then, with an almost dismissive tilt of their head, they finally spoke. "That’s an interesting question."

  A pause. Then, smoothly, "That information is above your clearance."

  Samui’s expression remained unreadable, but her grip on her scanner tightened. "Then you’ll have no problem verifying that yourself, will you?" Without hesitation, she lifted the scanner, calibrating it to lock onto his signal.

  The moment she did. A second beam fired.

  Senshi's instincts roared to life. He moved instantly, his body reacting faster than thought. "Ryu!" he shouted.

  The dragon, still coiled protectively near the team, flared its wings and surged forward. The beam struck it dead center. The massive creature didn't even have time to cry out. In an instant, the dragon was gone. Not burned, not broken—erased from existence.

  A deep silence followed the attack, the weight of what had just happened sinking in. Senshi stood frozen, his summoning scroll still glowing faintly in his grip. His dragon—his final summon—had been obliterated in the blink of an eye.

  Samui barely managed to suppress her shock. Her grip on the scanner tightened as she took an instinctive step back. "That attack… It was the same as before. It wasn’t just destruction—it was complete removal."

  Shining’s expression darkened, his eyes locked onto the lone figure. "That’s not an ability you can just ignore."

  Weird exhaled sharply, shifting his weight. "So, what? Are we dealing with another overpowered lunatic? Because I’m really not in the mood for a round two."

  The figure lowered their hand, their movements completely calm. There was no sense of hostility, no outward malice—just absolute control. "You were never meant to see me," the figure finally said, their voice disturbingly even. "And yet, here you are." Their gaze flicked over SOF, as if evaluating them one by one. There was no sense of urgency in their stance, only certainty. "I will give you this chance. Walk away. Leave. Forget this ever happened."

  Samui narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to stay composed. "You think we’ll just walk away after that? After everything?"

  The figure exhaled softly. "I do not think. I know." The confidence in their voice sent a shiver through the air. They weren’t issuing a threat—they were stating a fact.

  Senshi’s hands clenched into fists. His dragon had been erased in an instant, and this person expected them to simply leave? "If you think we’re just going to let you do whatever you want, you’re dead wrong."

  The figure tilted their head slightly. "I expected you to say that."

  Before anyone could react, they raised their hand again. Another beam fired.

  Samui barely registered the movement before her instincts screamed at her. She twisted sharply to the side, but she wasn’t fast enough.

  The beam streaked toward her—

  Senshi moved. Without thinking, his body reacted before his mind even caught up. He grabbed Samui and shoved her out of the way. The beam struck his side—but instead of erasing him, a sharp crackle of energy erupted from his waist. A crackling energy flared for half a second before the air seemed to split. Senshi let out a sharp gasp as he staggered, the force knocking him to his knees. A blinding pulse flared from his belt, and in an instant, his last dragon scroll disintegrated into nothingness, its intricate markings vanishing as if they had never existed. His body.It was still there. The beam hadn’t erased him.

  The figure lowered their hand, staring at Senshi with mild interest. "Interesting." His gaze flickered downward, noting the lingering energy where the scroll had been.

  Samui scrambled back up, her heart pounding. "Senshi! Are you—"

  Senshi let out a sharp breath, his body trembling slightly from the residual energy. He was alive. But whatever had just happened… It wasn’t normal.

  The figure regarded them for a moment longer before exhaling softly. Their gaze locked onto Samui. "You are out of time. I suggest you make peace with what comes next." Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, they raised their hand one last time—

  And fired.