The moment those words left Kazuto's mouth, the atmosphere across the ruined summit changed so violently that even the abyssal creature standing before him seemed to pause for the briefest instant, as though something within its constantly evolving consciousness had finally recognized the dangerous certainty hidden beneath the human standing before it.
Not confidence.
Not arrogance.
Conviction.
The kind possessed only by people who had already accepted death long ago and therefore no longer hesitated when facing impossible odds.
Violent currents of wind spiraled around Kazuto's body in expanding rings that tore apart loose stone and sent fragments of shattered pillars flying into the darkened sky, while the mana gathering around his sword continued compressing further and further inward until even the surrounding space began distorting beneath its density.
Kyūsei stared at him in disbelief.
He had seen Kazuto fight many times now.
Against monsters.
Against adventurers.
Against the abyss itself.
But this—
This felt different.
It felt as though Kazuto had finally stopped holding something back.
Not power alone.
A side of himself.
The air around him carried an unbearable sharpness now, almost as if merely standing nearby was enough to slowly slice apart the world itself.
Even the creature noticed.
Its countless eyes narrowed slightly while the darkness around its body shifted uneasily, reacting instinctively to the threat standing before it.
Then the abyss behind the fractures in the sky began moving again.
The enormous eye hidden beyond reality focused entirely upon Kazuto now.
And for the first time since appearing—
The distant entities watching from beyond the heavens seemed interested in someone other than Kyūsei.
Kazuto noticed too.
"…great," he muttered while rolling his sore shoulder carefully. "Now the cosmic horrors are staring at me."
Despite everything, Kyūsei almost laughed.
Almost.
Then the summit shook again as another section of the ancient temple collapsed into the valley below, reminding everyone that the world was still very close to ending.
Lena climbed onto the upper platform beside them, silver mana surrounding her body in thin flowing streams as she scanned the widening fractures above with growing concern.
"You can't let that opening stabilize," she said sharply. "If the abyss fully anchors itself to this world, the breach may become permanent."
Kazuto kept his eyes on the creature.
"How long do we have?"
Lena hesitated.
"…minutes."
Rufus appeared moments later behind her, breathing heavily after dragging several injured adventurers toward safer ground below.
"I would like everyone to acknowledge," he announced nervously, "that we are currently discussing the apocalypse with entirely too much calmness."
Mira landed silently beside him.
"Panic wastes oxygen."
"That is emotionally unhelpful."
Garron finally climbed onto the upper summit as well, carrying the enormous broken pillar over one shoulder despite the horrifying injuries covering his body. Blood dripped steadily from his arms, yet the giant man still stood as solidly as a fortress.
"Tell me what break," he said.
Simple.
Direct.
Reliable.
Kyūsei felt something tighten painfully inside his chest.
These people were insane.
Absolutely insane.
The sky was splitting open above them while incomprehensible entities watched from beyond reality itself, and yet every single one of them was still standing here preparing to fight anyway.
Not because they believed victory was guaranteed.
But because retreat was no longer an option.
His gaze slowly shifted toward Kazuto again.
And suddenly, for the first time since arriving in this world, Kyūsei truly understood why Kazuto felt different from everyone else around him.
It wasn't merely strength.
Nor talent.
Nor courage.
It was the terrifying way he faced impossible situations as though surrender had never once existed as a choice inside his mind.
The creature suddenly moved.
Darkness erupted outward from its body in enormous spiraling waves as it raised one hand toward Kazuto, and instantly hundreds of black blades formed throughout the air around them, each one vibrating with enough condensed abyssal energy to split apart reinforced mana barriers effortlessly.
The creature had evolved again.
Its voice echoed softly across the summit.
"You resist inevitability."
Kazuto slowly lifted his sword.
"Bad habit."
Then the blades launched.
The sky itself seemed to disappear beneath the overwhelming storm of darkness descending upon the summit from every direction simultaneously, each projectile moving fast enough to leave fractures trailing through the air behind them.
Kyūsei reacted instantly, summoning walls of compressed wind around the others while Lena's silver mana spread outward into layered defensive formations beside him.
The first impact detonated like an explosion.
Then another.
And another.
The summit vanished beneath roaring destruction.
Stone shattered violently.
Entire sections of the temple collapsed completely under the barrage as shockwaves erupted continuously across the battlefield, forcing everyone backward despite their defenses.
Kyūsei gritted his teeth desperately while reinforcing the wind barriers around them, but cracks were already spreading through the compressed air shielding his companions.
Too strong.
There were simply too many attacks.
And through the chaos—
Kazuto walked forward.
Not running.
Walking.
Each step calm.
Steady.
As though the destruction surrounding him was nothing more than rain falling upon an ordinary road.
Dark blades screamed toward him from every direction.
Kazuto moved his sword once.
A single horizontal slash.
The wind exploded outward.
Dozens of incoming blades shattered instantly.
He stepped again.
Another slash.
More darkness split apart.
Kyūsei's eyes widened slowly as he finally began understanding what Kazuto was truly doing.
He wasn't overpowering the attacks.
He was cutting apart the mana structure holding them together before impact.
Precise.
Absurdly precise.
The creature noticed too.
Its eyes sharpened.
Then suddenly every remaining blade changed direction simultaneously, converging toward Kazuto from blind angles impossible to evade normally.
But Kazuto smiled.
Finally.
Dangerously.
"Found it."
The creature paused.
Too late.
Wind compressed around Kazuto's blade so intensely that the sword itself disappeared beneath layers of distorted space, and for one impossible moment the entire battlefield became eerily silent as every current of air within the valley seemed drawn toward a single point.
Kyūsei felt his instincts scream instantly.
Even the abyssal entities beyond the fractured sky shifted uneasily.
Kazuto inhaled once.
Then swung upward toward the heavens.
The slash itself was invisible.
But its effect—
The world split.
A massive line tore through the darkened sky above Valthorin, carving directly across the widening abyssal fractures with terrifying force as compressed wind erupted upward like the blade of a god attempting to sever reality itself.
The heavens screamed.
The fractures shattered violently.
And for the first time since the battle began—
The abyss recoiled.