The glowing crystal bullet met him halfway.
"...NO!"
The fanatic twisted his body with every ounce of strength.
Too late.
The crystal touched his shoulder.
Crack.
Golden fractures spread across his entire body like lightning racing beneath his skin.
His eyes widened in horror.
"No..."
"No!"
His magma blade shattered into countless sparks.
"What is this?!"
The Collector's expression finally changed.
"...Damn it."
The crystal pendant unfolded in midair.
Its surface bloomed open like the petals of a flower. An irresistible force erupted from within.
The fanatic clawed desperately at the empty air.
"HELP ME!"
"My grandfather—"
"He said I would—"
His voice abruptly shrank. His entire body rapidly diminished.
Normal size...
Half...
The size of a child...
The size of a doll...
Until—
Only a tiny figure remained.
The pendant snapped shut.
Click.
Silence.
The tiny fanatic pounded against the crystal walls from inside.
His screams could no longer be heard.
The Collector instinctively caught the pendant.
His jaw tightened.
"...You."
He stared at the crystal prison.
"You made me waste one."
Without another word, he clipped the pendant back onto the chain at his waist.
The miniature fanatic continued striking the transparent walls in panic.
Ignored.
The Collector slowly raised his rifle again.
"This changes nothing."
Another crystal pendant slid into the chamber.
Click.
His emerald eye aligned with the sight.
"You'll simply replace him."
The barrel pointed directly at Zekai.
The trigger moved.
Click.
Another crystal round drifted through the air. Unlike a normal bullet, it didn't spin violently.
It floated. Almost peacefully. Yet every instinct inside Zekai screamed.
Don't let it touch you.
His body reacted before his mind.
One step.
The crystal slipped past his shoulder.
Another shot.
Step.
It passed beneath his arm.
A third.
A fourth.
A fifth.
Each pendant bullet altered its path slightly, as though searching for him.
The Collector frowned.
"...They're missing?"
"No..."
His eye narrowed.
"He's reading the firing line."
Zekai himself looked confused.
"I'm not..."
He whispered under his breath.
"...I just know."
Every bullet appeared inside his thoughts a heartbeat before it reached him.
Not certainty.
Possibility. Dozens of possible trajectories unfolded before his eyes.
His body always chose the safest one.
The Collector lowered the rifle.
"...Remarkable."
"But prediction alone won't save you."
He reached toward his belt.
This time—
Three pendants slid into the weapon simultaneously.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Sebastian's breathing stopped.
"...Three?"
"No..."
"He's going to flood the entire area!"
The Collector squeezed the trigger. Three crystal rounds separated in midair.
Then six.
Then twelve.
Each one curved along a different trajectory. Every escape route vanished.
The ruined courtyard became a cage of glowing crystal.
Zekai stood perfectly still. For the first time since awakening...
His heartbeat accelerated.
"...There's no path."
The crimson Arcana interface flickered before his eyes.
[ Limited Control Authority Active ]
A faint line appeared beneath it.
Control Correction... Available
---
Before Zekai could understand the words—
His body moved. He stepped forward.
Not away. Forward.
One crystal round passed behind his neck.
Another beneath his elbow. A third skimmed his hair.
He slipped through the impossible barrage by the width of a finger.
The Collector's eye widened.
"...Impossible."
Within a single breath—
Zekai had already crossed the distance between them.
The rifle hadn't even completed its recoil. The Collector immediately abandoned the shot.
He swung the weapon sideways like a staff.
CRACK!
Zekai raised his forearm.
The impact echoed through the ruined courtyard. The force pushed him back several steps.
His arm throbbed.
'He's strong...'
'Much stronger than the fanatic.'
The Collector calmly drew a combat knife with his free hand.
"So."
"You aren't invincible after all."
Zekai slowly lowered his guard.
"No."
"I'm not."
His gaze remained fixed on the pendants hanging from the man's belt.
Especially one. Inside the tiny crystal...
Aldric Marune stood with his arms folded, motionless, his expression as calm as ever.
'I have to get that pendant...'
'No matter what.'
The wind swept through the shattered courtyard.
Neither man moved.
Containment officers finally reached the ruined courtyard.
They stopped. No one crossed the fractured ground.
One young officer quietly raised his weapon. A veteran slowly lowered it.
"...Don't."
"We'll only get in their way."
The younger officer looked toward the battlefield.
"...Then what do we do?"
"...Watch."
Both waited for the other to make the first mistake.
The next exchange would decide everything. The silence lasted only a heartbeat.
Then—
Both of them moved.
BOOM!
The Collector vanished behind a cloud of shattered concrete.
His rifle wasn't designed only for long-range combat.
He swung it with practiced precision, the reinforced stock crashing toward Zekai's temple.
Zekai leaned backward.
The stock sliced through empty air.
The Collector immediately transitioned into another strike.
No wasted movement. No hesitation. His combat knife flashed toward Zekai's ribs.
Clang!
Zekai caught the knife with his forearm guard. The impact numbed his entire arm.
'He's adapting...'
The Collector's expression remained unchanged.
"It simply lets you survive."
Zekai didn't answer.
He wasn't even sure if that was true. All he knew was that every movement around him unfolded into countless possibilities.
Every choice...
Every step...
Every attack...
His body instinctively selected the one with the highest chance of survival.
The Arcana screen flickered briefly.
[Control Correction Active]
Calculating...
The text vanished before he could read more.
The Collector's eyes narrowed.
"...You're distracted."
He suddenly jumped backward.
At the same time, his left hand swept across the pendants hanging from his belt.
Three crystal rounds detached simultaneously.
Instead of loading them into the rifle—
He threw them into the air.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The pendants burst open.
From each crystal emerged a swirling ribbon of Grave Energy that wrapped around the battlefield like translucent chains.
Sebastian's face changed instantly.
"...Those aren't bullets."
"They're anchors!"
The glowing ribbons spread across the courtyard, restricting movement.
The Collector calmly raised his rifle again.
"I don't need to hit you."
"I only need to leave you with nowhere to run."
The rifle clicked.
Another sealing round floated toward Zekai.
This time—
The glowing ribbons forced his movement into a narrow corridor.
Zekai's pupils contracted.
'Left... dead.'
'Right... dead.'
'Forward...'
A tiny opening appeared. Less than the width of a hand.
Without thinking—
He stepped.
The sealing round brushed past his shoulder. The glowing chains snapped shut behind him.
The Collector's calm expression finally cracked.
"...Again."
"You're seeing the opening before it exists."
"No..."
Zekai whispered.
"I just..."
"...can't stop moving."
At that exact moment—
A roar echoed behind them.
"I'M NOT FINISHED!"
The sealed fanatic's ally—
No.
The miniature fanatic remained imprisoned.
Instead, another explosion erupted where his magma had ignited the collapsed debris.
The distraction lasted only an instant.
But it was enough. Zekai's eyes locked onto Aldric's pendant.
'Now.'
He lunged.
The Collector reacted immediately. The rifle came up.
Too late.
Zekai's hand reached the chain around the Collector's waist.
The metal links snapped apart.
Dozens of pendants scattered across the broken concrete.
Crystal chimes echoed across the courtyard.
The Collector's composure disappeared.
"...Don't touch them!"
Zekai ignored him. His fingers closed around the crystal.
Every pendant hanging from the broken chain suddenly trembled.
Tiny hands pressed against crystal walls.
A horned beast slowly knelt.
A silver-haired woman quietly smiled.
One ancient warrior bowed his head.
Inside another pendant—
Something enormous began laughing.
Even the swirling darkness became completely still.
Silence spread across the battlefield.
The Collector's emerald eye widened.
"...Why..."
For the very first time—
Genuine confusion entered his voice.
"...why are they responding to you?"
✦ End of Chapter 39 — The Relic Collector Vs Zekai (Part 2) ✦