Shura's Flow State had reached a terrifying intensity.
It wasn't something the other players could see directly.
But they could feel it.
The air around Table 17 had grown heavy, like an invisible pressure pressing down on everyone sitting there.
Mika Fujisawa still hadn't fully recovered.
Her usual seductive confidence had completely vanished.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.
Her eyes were wide.
Unfocused.
"He… made me shout Fold," she whispered, almost to herself.
The words sounded unreal even as she spoke them.
"I didn't even think about it."
Her gaze slowly moved toward Shura.
Fear flashed across her face.
"I just… did it."
Itsuki Saionji stared at her in disbelief.
Normally he would have mocked her.
Teased her.
Defended her pride in the most vulgar way possible.
But not now.
His usual smirk was gone.
For once, even Itsuki understood something.
Shura Daigo was not someone you provoked lightly.
Not in this state.
Not when his mind had gone somewhere none of them could follow.
Shura wasn't playing poker anymore.
He was hunting.
And the table had become his territory.
Itsuki swallowed quietly and leaned back in his chair.
Even he didn't dare say anything.
Kenshin Oda had lowered his head.
His glasses reflected the lights above the table.
But he wasn't calculating anymore.
Not really.
Numbers were useless here.
Probabilities didn't apply to monsters.
He's not human right now, Oda thought.
The idea formed slowly in his mind.
He's a monster.
He couldn't even bring himself to look at Shura.
Because the moment he did…
His instincts screamed danger.
Kaito Murakumo sat quietly with a cigarette between his fingers.
He inhaled deeply.
The smoke filled his lungs before slowly escaping his lips.
But his gaze never once moved toward Shura.
He intentionally avoided it.
Because Kaito had spent years around dangerous people.
Criminals.
Gamblers.
Killers.
And there was one thing all predators shared.
Eye contact.
If you locked eyes with them…
You were already inside the hunt.
He's gone completely insane, Kaito thought.
Even Tetsuya Kurogane — the strongest player at the table — felt something unfamiliar creeping into his mind.
Doubt.
He leaned slightly forward in his chair, watching Shura carefully.
His instincts told him the same thing the others felt.
I didn't expect this.
Kurogane had fought many opponents.
Dominated many tables.
But Shura wasn't behaving like a gambler.
He looked like a weapon.
An unstable one.
Across the table, Aiko Tanaka remained quiet.
Her expression stayed calm.
Elegant.
But her eyes weren't on Shura.
They were fixed on Ren.
For a brief moment, genuine empathy appeared in her gaze.
How did he end up in this situation?
Ren Takahashi.
The weakest ranked player at the table.
An E+.
And somehow…
He had become the center of the most dangerous clash at Table 17.
Tanaka watched him silently.
For just a moment longer.
Because Ren and Shura were no longer truly there.
Not mentally.
Not anymore.
Ren's battle had moved somewhere else.
Inside his mind.
Darkness.
A black void stretched endlessly in every direction.
There was no poker table.
No cards.
No chips.
No players.
Just emptiness.
And three figures standing inside it.
Ren.
Shura.
And something else.
Yomi.
Ren struggled to breathe.
Sweat ran down his face.
His chest rose and fell rapidly as panic clawed its way through his body.
His thoughts were scattered.
Broken.
But one thing remained clear.
I can't lose here.
The thought repeated over and over in his mind.
Like a desperate prayer.
I saw the river.
I felt it.
His eyes twitched.
The straight didn't come.
There is no straight.
His brain screamed the calculation again and again.
But the real terror wasn't the cards.
It was something else.
He knows.
Shura knew.
Ren could feel it.
That was why Shura had pushed him into this position.
That was why the pressure had grown so overwhelming.
This entire moment…
Had been created intentionally.
A trap.
Ren's breathing grew heavier.
He's forcing me.
Forcing me to go all-in.
A slow sound echoed through the darkness.
Footsteps.
Ren looked up.
Yomi.
The creature slowly approached him.
Its long fingers twitched in unnatural patterns.
Its pupils shifted constantly, locking onto Ren's every movement.
Ren tried to step backward.
But the void had no distance.
No escape.
Yomi kept coming closer.
Closer.
Behind it…
Shura stood silently in the darkness.
Watching.
Like a puppeteer hidden in shadow.
He didn't move.
He didn't speak.
Yomi was the one acting.
The one hunting.
Ren clenched his fists.
His thoughts were collapsing under the pressure.
Think.
Think.
But his mind refused to work.
The monster stopped a few steps away from him.
Its head tilted slowly.
Then Shura's voice echoed through the void.
Cold.
Calm.
Mocking.
"That's why you're only an E+."
Ren's teeth clenched.
Something had changed in Shura completely.
The timid boy from his backstory was gone.
The fighter from the underground rings was gone.
This was something else.
Something darker.
Yomi slowly opened its mouth.
"Idiots…"
Its voice sounded distorted.
Like two voices speaking at once.
"Why do you have to bleed for something like this?"
Then suddenly—
It moved.
In one instant, Yomi lunged forward.
Its hand shot toward Ren's throat.
The grip was immediate.
Violent.
Ren's feet lifted from the ground as the creature raised him into the air effortlessly.
Air vanished from his lungs.
"You lost," Yomi whispered.
Ren gasped desperately.
His vision blurred.
Dark spots filled his sight.
He felt his consciousness slipping.
The void around them began collapsing inward.
Then—
Something strange happened.
A faint white glow appeared around Ren's body.
At first it was small.
Barely noticeable.
But it grew.
Slowly.
Silently.
The light spread across his chest.
His arms.
His face.
Yomi stopped.
Its fingers tightened around Ren's throat.
"What…?"
The glow intensified.
Then it took shape.
A scale.
A balance.
Floating behind Ren like a silent guardian.
Yomi's pupils shrank.
The black void surrounding them began reacting violently.
White and black collided like opposing worlds.
Ren's eyes slowly closed.
His body went limp.
He had lost consciousness.
But the battle hadn't ended.
It had only changed form.
Now the white void surrounding the scale clashed against the darkness surrounding Yomi.
Two forces fighting for dominance.
Two worlds colliding.
And Ren…
Was no longer conscious to witness it.
Shura's voice echoed again.
"What is that, Yomi?"
Yomi stared at the glowing balance.
"I have no idea."
Its voice remained calm.
But something inside it had shifted.
Uncertainty.
"But somehow…"
"It's protecting him."
Shura remained silent for a moment.
Then his voice returned.
Cold.
Focused.
"Make him go all-in."
"We need to eliminate him now."
Yomi nodded slowly.
"I already gave him the command."
"All that's left…"
"…is making him execute it."
Its gaze moved back toward Ren's unconscious body.
Something about him irritated Yomi deeply.
"He shouldn't be an E+."
"How does he have abilities on the same level as you?"
Shura answered quietly.
"He's doing it unconsciously."
Back at the poker table.
The other players could only watch.
Neither Ren nor Shura were moving.
Ren leaned slightly backward in his chair.
His head tilted upward.
His eyes were closed.
Completely still.
Shura sat with his head lowered.
His gaze was fixed on the blood-stained tissue Itsuki had thrown earlier.
The entire table had fallen silent.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Even the dealer hesitated.
Aiko Tanaka looked at Ren with growing concern.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
She studied his expression carefully.
His breathing.
His posture.
Then she whispered quietly to herself.
What is happening inside his mind right now?