When Kanetaro descended through the boundary between planes, the air of the lower world felt heavier than usual, as though it already sensed intrusion. The sky above the city darkened under a mass of writhing black shapes spreading outward like a living storm. Narasytes poured forward in synchronized waves, their crimson cores pulsing rhythmically, adjusting direction with disturbing precision. Behind them, descending slowly with deliberate calm, came eight cloaked figures arranged in perfect formation.
Kanetaro steadied himself midair. "You picked the wrong world," he muttered.
The Narasytes surged upward to greet him.
He shifted into gas before the first impact, dispersing into a cloud of violet particles that the black spears tore through harmlessly. He widened his dispersion radius, allowing them to overshoot before reforming above the swarm. He compressed energy into a dense sphere and hurled it downward. The sphere imploded first, crushing dozens of Narasytes inward before detonating outward in a controlled shockwave that vaporized them.
More replaced them instantly.
"You're wasting stamina," a voice called from above, smooth and amused. "The insects are only here to measure you."
Kanetaro glanced upward. One of the Eight Fingers lowered himself slightly ahead of the others, cloak fluttering lazily despite the chaos.
Finger Eight.
He removed his hood with theatrical slowness. His face was sharp, eyes gleaming with cruel delight. "Let's see how you handle pressure," he said, extending his hand.
The world bent.
Kanetaro felt the shift immediately. The air thickened, crushing him downward. The ground below fractured under invisible force. He tried to lift, but gravity multiplied violently around him, pinning his solid form toward the earth.
"Interesting," Finger Eight mused. "You're still conscious. Most mortals liquefy from the inside."
Kanetaro shifted into liquid, flattening himself across the broken ground to distribute the crushing force. The pressure intensified, forcing cracks deeper into the terrain.
"Ah," Finger Eight said with a smirk. "You adapt. That makes this enjoyable."
The gravitational vector suddenly flipped. Kanetaro was launched upward with explosive acceleration. He converted to gas mid-flight to prevent internal damage, particles scattering in controlled drift.
Finger Eight laughed. "Running already?"
Kanetaro reformed behind him, condensing all mass into his right arm. "No," he replied quietly. "Calculating."
He struck.
The punch connected with devastating force, distorting the gravitational field surrounding Finger Eight. The sky warped momentarily as the vector collapsed. Finger Eight was driven downward like a meteor, smashing into the ground in a violent crater.
Dust rose.
From within the crater, laughter echoed. "Good. Very good."
The ground inverted.
Kanetaro felt gravity pull sideways this time. Buildings tilted unnaturally as the field rotated ninety degrees. He was dragged laterally toward the crater where Finger Eight stood, arms extended, manipulating force lines like threads.
"You misunderstand," the Finger said. "I don't increase gravity. I redesign it."
Kanetaro dispersed partially, letting the sideways pull drag his gas form harmlessly. Then he condensed selectively in his legs and launched himself diagonally against the new vector. He allowed the manipulated force to accelerate him faster than his own propulsion would allow.
Finger Eight's eyes widened slightly as Kanetaro closed distance using his own altered gravity against him.
Kanetaro shifted fully solid mid-rotation and delivered a spinning backfist infused with total mass transfer.
The impact shattered the gravitational construct entirely. The vector snapped violently, releasing a shockwave that tore across the field. Finger Eight's body fractured from the inside as his own distorted gravity imploded around him. He disintegrated into unstable fragments that failed to reform.
Above, another Finger clicked his tongue.
"Reckless idiot," said Finger Seven, stepping forward. "Gravity is crude. Watch something refined."
He drew a finger through the air.
A building several blocks away split cleanly in half seconds later.
Kanetaro's eyes narrowed.
Finger Seven smiled arrogantly. "Space," he said softly. "Everything is cuttable."
Invisible slicing planes began forming across the battlefield. The ground beneath Kanetaro separated silently into precise sections. He shifted into gas instantly as multiple intersecting planes carved through the space he had occupied.
"You can't dodge forever," Finger Seven said. "I'm not cutting you. I'm cutting where you will be."
Kanetaro liquefied and surged low along the ground, allowing slicing planes to pass overhead. One plane descended unexpectedly, forcing him to condense into solid briefly to deflect its edge with a mass-reinforced forearm. Pain flared along his arm as the spatial edge grazed him, drawing violet sparks.
Finger Seven laughed. "It bleeds!"
Kanetaro closed distance carefully, tracking the timing between spatial projections. Each slice required a micro-moment of alignment. He shifted into gas and expanded just enough to slip through a narrow gap between intersecting planes.
Finger Seven's smirk faltered as Kanetaro reformed directly in front of him.
"You talk too much," Kanetaro said.
He drove a condensed palm strike into the Finger's chest.
Spatial distortions flickered violently as the internal alignment sustaining the slicing field destabilized. Finger Seven staggered backward, attempting to redraw planes defensively, but Kanetaro pressed forward relentlessly. He shifted between liquid and solid in rapid succession, avoiding erratic final cuts before committing to a final upward strike that shattered the Finger's core.
Finger Seven dissolved with a look of disbelief.
Kanetaro exhaled heavily. His forearm still burned from the spatial graze. Two down.
Finger Six descended slowly, clapping sarcastically. "Adaptable. But adaptation fails against inevitability."
His body split apart without warning.
Kanetaro tensed as Finger Six fragmented into dozens of smaller copies, each identical, each grinning.
"Regenerative fragmentation," they said in unison. "You may destroy parts. You cannot destroy the whole."
The fragments attacked simultaneously, swarming like intelligent shrapnel. Kanetaro liquefied to avoid direct strikes, but the fragments adjusted, reforming into sharp tendrils that pierced through his liquid form and solidified within him.
Pain surged.
He expelled the intruding fragments by dispersing into gas explosively. Several fragments were destroyed in the process, but more reassembled from surrounding pieces.
"You see?" the chorus mocked. "Damage is meaningless."
Kanetaro forced himself to analyze. The fragments reformed only when within proximity. There had to be a central anchor.
He solidified deliberately, drawing several fragments toward him as bait. As they pierced toward his torso, he compressed energy inward rather than outward, creating a dense gravitational-like core within himself. The fragments were pulled inward and trapped in the compression field.
Finger Six's voices faltered.
"You're not regenerating," Kanetaro observed quietly. "You're redistributing."
He detonated the internal compression outward.
The explosion destroyed every fragment within the containment radius. The remaining fragments scattered erratically, attempting to regroup, but their cohesion faltered. Kanetaro pursued aggressively, striking each cluster with precise full-mass transfers before they could reconnect.
One by one, the fragments destabilized until nothing remained.
Kanetaro dropped to one knee briefly, breathing heavier now. Energy flowed through him, but not endlessly. He could feel the drain building.
Finger Five descended next, cracking his neck lazily. "You're slowing," he observed with amusement. "Allow me to help."
He vanished.
Kanetaro barely had time to shift into gas before a strike tore through the air where his head had been. Finger Five reappeared behind him instantly.
"Velocity amplification," he said smugly. "I don't move fast. I redefine fast."
He struck again, and again, and again. Each blow carried amplified momentum beyond normal physics, warping the air with explosive cracks. Kanetaro struggled to track him, shifting repeatedly between states to avoid lethal impacts. Even in gas form, the pressure waves disrupted his cohesion.
"You're predictable," Finger Five taunted. "Every shift costs you."
Kanetaro forced himself not to chase. Instead, he stabilized midair and reduced movement to the minimum necessary. He watched the distortions preceding each amplified strike. There was always a microsecond compression before acceleration.
Finger Five lunged again.
Kanetaro shifted into liquid at the last instant, allowing the strike to pass through and using the amplified velocity to pull Finger Five off balance. He condensed mass into a single anchored leg and pivoted, striking the Finger mid-rotation.
Finger Five recovered instantly and retaliated with a barrage that forced Kanetaro backward across shattered rooftops.
"You're tiring," the Finger said gleefully. "Your reactions are slower."
Kanetaro's breathing was heavier now. Sweat mixed with violet energy residue along his brow. But his eyes remained steady.
Finger Five accelerated for a final decisive strike, amplifying momentum beyond previous levels.
Kanetaro did not evade.
He solidified fully and anchored himself to the ground, compressing all energy inward rather than outward. When the amplified strike landed against his guarded forearms, he absorbed the momentum into his condensed core and redirected it downward through his legs.
The ground beneath them shattered catastrophically.
Finger Five's eyes widened as the redirected force rebounded through him. Kanetaro seized the moment, transferring full mass into a counterpunch that connected directly with the Finger's core.
Velocity collapsed. Amplification shattered.
Finger Five was launched skyward before disintegrating midair.
Kanetaro stood alone amid fractured earth and ruined skyline, chest rising and falling heavily. Four Fingers had fallen. Four remained above.
And at the center of them all, the First Heaven Destroyer had not moved once.
Kanetaro looked up.
"This isn't over," he said quietly.
Above him, the remaining three Fingers began their descent.