"You… stay back!"
Takako Uro's voice trembled as she watched Yagami Sora walk toward her.
Step by step.
Unhurried.
Unstoppable.
She had once been the captain of the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad, the assassination unit that served the Fujiwara clan.
An elite sorcerer feared centuries ago.
Yet now—
Facing this boy—
She felt like prey standing before a predator.
The pressure emanating from him suffocated her.
"What's wrong, Auntie?"
Sora tilted his head.
His tone carried a mocking calmness.
"Weren't you confident just now?"
"You were ready to twist my neck with your space trick."
Uro clenched her teeth.
Fear clawed at her heart.
But she forced it down.
She was a warrior.
A warrior could die.
But she would not die trembling.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Her cursed energy erupted.
"Technique—"
"Sky Manipulation!"
She grabbed the air with both hands.
As if clutching invisible fabric.
Then—
She yanked.
CRACK.
The sky distorted violently.
The space around Yagami Sora warped like cloth being twisted apart.
A genuine spatial rupture.
If an ordinary sorcerer were caught inside it—
Their body would be torn apart instantly.
Even Yuta Okkotsu had been forced to evade such attacks earlier.
But Sora didn't move.
He stood calmly.
Hands still in his pockets.
The warped space touched him—
And slid away.
Like water flowing around stone.
Takako Uro's eyes widened.
"…Impossible."
Her technique treated the sky itself as a surface.
A manipulable plane.
She could twist it.
Fold it.
Even shatter it.
Anything inside that distorted plane would be dragged along with it.
But none of it affected him.
"The explanation is simple."
Sora spoke calmly.
"Spatial distortion is still the result of forces acting on space."
"Force fields."
"Gravity."
"Momentum."
"And every force…"
He raised one finger.
"…has a vector."
He tapped lightly at the air.
A ripple spread outward.
The twisted space instantly smoothed.
Like wrinkles being ironed flat.
"If you understand the vector formula behind the distortion…"
Sora continued,
"…you can reverse it."
"Flatten the field."
He looked at her with mild pity.
"Your technique is interesting."
"Unfortunately…"
"You ran into the wrong opponent."
"Against sufficient calculation power…"
"…every trick becomes predictable."
Uro froze.
Vector.
Calculation.
Field equations.
None of those concepts existed in her era.
But she understood one thing clearly.
Her technique had been completely neutralized.
"I refuse to believe this!"
Her voice broke into a scream.
"I won't lose to some ridiculous brat!"
She slammed both hands downward.
"Sky Manipulation—"
"Thin Ice Breaker!"
The sky fractured.
A devastating impact formed from compressed spatial distortion.
BOOM.
The invisible force crashed down toward Sora.
Enough pressure to crush buildings flat.
Sora sighed quietly.
"Stubborn."
His eyes sharpened.
"If you like manipulating space so much…"
"Then let me show you what real spatial control looks like."
He raised his hand.
"Vector Manipulation—"
"Gravitational Singularity."
A black sphere appeared in his palm.
Small.
Only fist-sized.
But the moment it appeared—
Light bent around it.
Air warped.
Dust spiraled inward.
A point of extreme gravitational compression.
Like a miniature black hole.
"Go."
Sora pushed his hand forward.
The sphere drifted slowly upward.
Meeting Uro's attack.
There was no explosion.
No roar.
The moment the distortion touched the sphere—
It vanished.
Absorbed.
Then the gravity expanded.
Everything nearby began falling inward.
Air.
Dust.
Debris.
Even light bent toward the center.
Takako Uro's eyes widened in horror.
Her body began sliding toward the sphere.
"No—!"
She tried to escape.
Attempting to distort the sky again.
But the gravitational field locked the surrounding space completely.
Her technique failed.
"Aaaaah!"
She screamed as she was dragged closer.
Another meter—
And she would be crushed into nothing.
Suddenly—
The sphere stopped.
The gravity vanished.
Uro dropped from the sky.
Slamming onto the ground.
She lay there gasping.
Drenched in cold sweat.
Like someone who had just escaped death.
She looked up.
At Yagami Sora floating in the air.
He stared down calmly.
Like a god observing an insect.
"…Why didn't you kill me?"
She asked hoarsely.
"Because you're still useful."
Sora answered.
"Your spatial technique is rare."
"Killing you would be wasteful."
He glanced at Yuta Okkotsu approaching nearby.
"And my senior here…"
"…seems very interested in it."
Yuta nodded thoughtfully.
"If I copy it…"
He said,
"…domain construction might become much easier."
Takako Uro stared at them.
Stunned.
One of them could neutralize spatial distortion.
The other could copy techniques.
What kind of monsters were these modern sorcerers?
"…My era is over."
She whispered bitterly.
Then closed her eyes.
"I surrender."
"Take the points."
[System Notification]
Points transferred: 70
Sora barely glanced at the notification.
Instead he looked at Yuta.
"Well?"
Yuta raised his hand.
Grasping at empty air.
CRACK.
The sky distorted slightly.
It wasn't perfect yet.
But it was unmistakable.
Sky Manipulation.
Sora snapped his fingers.
"Nice."
"Then that leaves only one."
He turned toward the battlefield.
From the crater in the distance—
Ryu Ishigori slowly climbed out.
Blood running down his chest.
But his grin remained feral.
"It's not over…"
He laughed hoarsely.
"My cannon…"
"…hasn't fired enough yet."
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