The Blackstone Highlands had become almost unrecognizable.
The mountain that once overlooked the battlefield no longer existed. Its peak had collapsed into the valley below, while deep ravines stretched across the land like enormous scars. Clouds of dust rolled endlessly through the air, and every collision between the warriors sent another tremor racing across the surrounding mountains.
Yet the battle refused to slow.
Raizen's sword swept across Lady Chõko's shoulder.
She leaned back just enough for the blade to graze the fabric of her sleeve before Hiroshi's returning spear came from above. Without stopping her movement, she twisted, letting the spear brush past her hair while Ayame emerged from a floating shard of glass with a spinning kick.
Lady Chõko crossed her forearms.
Boom!
The impact pushed her backward across the fractured stone.
She hadn't even regained her balance when Raizen appeared again.
"So you can be pushed after all."
His grin widened.
Lady Chõko smiled back.
"I never said I couldn't."
The Dimensional Sword descended once more.
Instead of another ordinary slash, faint crimson lines spread across the blade.
Raizen's expression sharpened.
"...First Form."
Rift Edge.
The sword swung.
The air itself seemed to split.
A razor-thin crescent of distorted space raced toward Lady Chõko, slicing through the ground before it reached her.
She immediately sidestepped.
The distorted slash continued past her...
And struck the mountain behind.
For a heartbeat...
Nothing happened.
Then—
CRAAAAACK!!
The mountain split cleanly down the center.
Its peak slowly slid apart before collapsing into the valley below with a deafening roar.
Dust erupted thousands of meters into the sky.
Lady Chõko glanced behind her.
"...Well..."
"...there goes another one."
Raizen didn't give her time to admire it.
He was already in front of her.
The Dimensional Sword flashed again and again, each strike carrying traces of Rift Edge, forcing Lady Chõko to dodge instead of redirecting the attacks.
Every missed slash carved another scar across the landscape.
One tore through a cliff.
Another split a canyon even deeper.
Another blasted apart a ridge stretching far beyond the battlefield.
The earth shook without pause.
Hiroshi seized the opportunity.
His spear curved low while the crescent-bladed chain wrapped around Lady Chõko's ankles.
She jumped.
The chain missed by inches.
Ayame instantly appeared from the reflection on the spear's polished surface.
Her palm struck toward Lady Chõko's ribs.
Lady Chõko blocked with one arm, but the force knocked her sideways.
Before she landed—
Raizen's fist crashed into the ground beneath her.
BOOM!!
The shockwave launched hundreds of tons of broken rock into the air.
Lady Chõko flipped through the falling debris, stepping across the tumbling boulders as though they were solid platforms.
She hadn't touched the ground once.
Raizen laughed.
"You really don't like standing still."
"It's unhealthy."
She smiled, hopping to another collapsing slab of rock.
Kaizen watched every movement.
"...She's abandoning counterattacks."
Haruto frowned.
"She's only defending."
"Not exactly," Kaizen replied.
"She's choosing survival over momentum."
Yurota's calm voice followed.
"Which means..."
"...we're slowly forcing her back."
The battlefield stretched farther with every exchange.
The six continued advancing together.
Lady Chõko continued retreating.
Not in panic.
Not in fear.
Simply because every direction had become another attack.
Raizen from the front.
Hiroshi from above.
Ayame from impossible angles.
There was no room to breathe.
A powerful collision sent Lady Chõko sliding across the mountainside.
The cliff beneath her shattered, carrying her downward with an avalanche of stone.
She pushed off a falling boulder just before it struck the valley floor.
Another slash met her the instant she landed.
She barely avoided it.
The distorted edge skimmed across her shoulder.
A thin line appeared on her robe.
For the first time...
The fabric tore.
Raizen noticed immediately.
"...Finally."
Lady Chõko looked at the small tear before brushing the dust away.
"...That was my favorite robe."
She sounded genuinely disappointed.
Ayame smiled.
"You can buy another."
"I liked this color."
Despite her lighthearted words...
Her breathing had become just a little deeper.
Not enough for most people to notice.
But Haruto did.
"...She's getting tired."
Kaizen's calculations finally stabilized.
"The pressure is working."
"Keep rotating."
"Don't let her reset the rhythm."
The six moved as one.
Like gears in a perfectly crafted machine.
Every time Lady Chõko escaped one attack...
Another was already waiting.
The repeated impacts spread farther and farther across the Blackstone Highlands.
Beyond the battlefield, entire rivers changed course as the collapsing mountains redirected their flow.
The horizon itself disappeared behind enormous walls of dust.
Any ordinary warrior would have been overwhelmed long ago.
Yet Lady Chõko continued smiling.
Smaller now.
Quieter.
But still there.
As Raizen raised the Dimensional Sword once more, he narrowed his eyes.
"...You're still hiding something."
Lady Chõko gently exhaled.
"...Maybe."
"...Or maybe..."
She brushed a speck of dust from her shoulder.
"...I'm just waiting for all six of you to stop warming up."
For the first time since the battle began...
Raizen's grin disappeared.
Because deep down...
He wasn't sure whether she was bluffing.
Or telling the truth.