For the first time since the activation of Mugen Banquet...
Lady Chõko wasn't laughing.
The realization struck the Dimensional Clan harder than any attack she had launched during the battle.
No "YAYAYAYAYA."
No playful grin.
No mocking smile.
Nothing.
She simply stood in the center of the endless feast while golden lights illuminated her silhouette.
And somehow...
That was far more terrifying.
The banquet world continued moving around her. Mountains of silver plates shifted across the horizon. Endless tables stretched toward the sky. Golden chandeliers drifted above like stars trapped inside another universe.
Yet despite all of it...
The battlefield felt quiet.
Unnaturally quiet.
Haruto lowered his hand slowly.
The distorted space around him continued vibrating.
The feast was reacting.
Fighting back.
Protecting something.
And that alone confirmed his theory.
"The source exists."
His voice echoed calmly.
"It doesn't matter how much she hides it."
Kaizen nodded.
"The world keeps protecting the same area."
Ayame immediately understood.
Every time Haruto distorted space, the banquet reacted in a specific direction.
Every time.
Not randomly.
Not by chance.
The feast itself was guiding them toward the answer.
Toward its heart.
Toward its weakness.
Across the battlefield, Chõko finally spoke.
"...You're smarter than I expected."
The Dimensional Clan froze.
Not because of the words.
Because of her voice.
It was different.
Gone was the cheerful excitement.
Gone was the playful madness.
The voice they heard now was calm.
Heavy.
Ancient.
The voice of someone who had survived countless battles.
Someone who had buried countless enemies.
Someone who understood exactly what was happening.
Raizen slowly lowered his sword.
His arrogance remained.
But his instincts were screaming.
This version of Chõko felt completely different from the one they had fought until now.
The woman before them wasn't a clown.
Wasn't a glutton.
Wasn't comic relief.
She was a monster.
One who had simply chosen to smile.
Until now.
The banquet hall darkened.
The golden lights dimmed.
The endless tables stopped moving.
Everything became still.
Even the air felt heavier.
Then Chõko took a single step forward.
The entire feast trembled.
A second step.
The sky cracked.
A third step.
The mountains of silver plates shattered into floating fragments.
Every member of the Dimensional Clan immediately prepared for combat.
Because they could feel it.
The real battle was beginning.
Not the playful exchanges.
Not the testing phase.
Not the warm-up.
This.
This was the true Lady Chõko.
The one hidden beneath the laughter.
The one hidden beneath "YAYAYAYAYA."
The one nobody had seen before.
Her stone armor slowly expanded across her body.
Golden cracks appeared across the surface.
Energy leaked from every opening.
The pressure pouring from her existence alone caused the earth beneath her feet to collapse.
Ayame swallowed.
Even Raizen's expression became serious.
Haruto remained calm.
But even he could feel it.
The feast wasn't empowering Chõko anymore.
Chõko was empowering the feast.
The difference was enormous.
The world no longer felt like an ability.
It felt like an extension of her existence.
As though Endless Feast had always been a part of her.
As though the banquet itself was alive because she was alive.
Then she looked directly at them.
Not through them.
Not above them.
At them.
Every member felt the weight of that gaze.
Then she smiled.
Not a wide smile.
Not a crazy smile.
A small one.
A sad one.
"You wanted my full power."
Her voice echoed across the endless world.
The feast grew darker.
The chandeliers lost their light.
The silver plates turned black.
The endless tables slowly rotated toward the six members.
As though the entire world was staring.
Watching.
Waiting.
Hungry.
The atmosphere became suffocating.
Even breathing felt difficult.
Then Chõko spread her arms.
The banquet responded instantly.
Millions of plates appeared in the sky.
Billions of golden lights filled the horizon.
The scale dwarfed everything shown before.
Even the Dimensional Clan looked tiny compared to it.
Like six people standing beneath an endless universe.
And then Chõko asked a question.
A simple question.
One that echoed throughout the feast.
Throughout the sky.
Throughout the endless kingdom she ruled.
"If a meal knows it's going to be eaten..."
Her eyes glowed softly.
"...does it still taste fear?"
Nobody answered.
Nobody could.
Because for the first time in the battle...
The hunters felt like prey.
The banquet hall shook.
The endless tables cracked.
The world itself seemed ready to devour everything inside it.
Then finally—
Lady Chõko laughed again.
But this time...
The laugh sounded wrong.
Lower.
Darker.
Almost tragic.
"YAYAYAYAYAYAYA..."
The feast erupted.
And the second half of the battle began.