Zekai couldn't move.
The chains wrapped around his legs before his instincts even registered their presence. One moment, he had been standing with Null Drakular in his hand.
The next, black chains had erupted from the ground and coiled around his ankles. They climbed over his calves, crossed his knees, tightened around his waist, and snapped around both wrists with enough force to jerk his shoulders backward.
Clank.
His sword slipped from his fingers. Null Drakular struck the ground beside him and disappeared beneath the tangle of shadows.
Zekai's eyes widened.
He hadn't sensed the attack. Not even a fraction of a second before it happened. His Fool Authority had remained completely silent.
That frightened him more than the chains themselves.
The Fool had never been silent when Zekai was in danger. Not once.
'What...?'
He strained against the chains. Nothing. He pulled harder. The muscles in his arms tightened until they trembled, but the chains didn't even bend.
Another loop wrapped around his chest.
Then another. Within seconds, Zekai was suspended several feet above the ground, his body hanging helplessly in the middle of the darkness.
His blood rushed downward. His fingers tingled. He tried to move his legs. Nothing. His eyes narrowed.
"Fool Authority."
Silence. No response. That was impossible. His ability had always been there. Even when he didn't understand it, even when he didn't know how to control it, he could feel it.
Now there was nothing. Not resistance. Not failure.
Zekai swallowed.
'How did I not feel this?'
His eyes moved toward the six figures standing ahead.
They hadn't moved. Not one of them.
A woman with silver hair stood slightly apart from the others, her expression almost bored. She looked at Zekai the way someone might look at an insect trapped inside a glass.
Her fingers moved slightly. The chains tightened. Zekai's body jerked.
"A-ah..."
His breath escaped between his teeth. The chains weren't simply restraining his muscles. Something deeper had been caught.
His soul. He could feel it.
A pressure had wrapped itself around his very existence, pinning something inside him that shouldn't have been physically touchable.
This isn't physical binding. A strange chill moved down his spine.
'She's binding the connection between me and my power.'
The chains didn't feel like restraints anymore. They felt like a verdict that had already been decided. Whatever they touched... was no longer allowed to move.
The silver-haired woman tilted her head.
"Still struggling worm?" Her voice was calm. Almost gentle. That somehow made it worse.
Zekai stared at her. "So you're the one doing this."
The woman smiled faintly.
"Hella."
The name came from another figure. A man with red hair stood several steps behind her.
He wore a dark military coat, its long tails moving slightly in the strange wind surrounding the battlefield. His posture was perfectly straight, his expression unreadable.
The others remained silent.
Zekai looked at him. Then at the remaining figures.
Six.
Not soldiers. Not hunters. Not ordinary supernatural beings. Something about their presence felt fundamentally wrong.
The man with red hair noticed his gaze.
"Marshal Jerom." He introduced himself without ceremony, as though the title required no explanation.
Zekai stared. Then smiled. It wasn't a nervous smile. It was the same irritating smile he wore whenever someone tried to intimidate him.
"So you're the Marshal."
Jerom's eyes narrowed slightly. "You sound disappointed."
Zekai smiled. "I was expecting someone scarier."
A faint silence followed.
"You are." Jerom's gaze moved over him. "Just not yet."
Zekai looked around again. "Six against one?" His smile widened. "That's flattering."
One of the figures laughed. Another clicked his tongue.
Hella remained expressionless.
Zekai pulled against the chains again. "I suppose I should feel honored."
He raised his head. "But if you needed six people just to tie me up..."
His eyes sharpened. "...you should have brought more."
The laughter stopped. For the first time, several of them looked genuinely irritated.
Jerom's eyes remained fixed on him. "He's still arrogant."
"He hasn't understood yet," another voice replied.
The speaker was a young-looking man with blue hair. His face was beautiful in a way that felt unnatural. His eyes were empty.
Zekai studied him. Blue hair. Then the others.
A green-haired man carrying something that resembled a skeletal whip.
A black-haired figure whose body looked less like a person and more like a beast forced into human proportions.
A blue-haired man holding an ancient black book. And finally—
Astrael. The yellow-haired figure stood quietly behind the others.
None of them looked human. Not completely.
They looked like beings that had worn human appearances long enough to remember how humans were supposed to look.
Zekai's smile disappeared for half a second.
'What the hell are these things?'
Hella looked toward Jerom. "Marshal."
Jerom's eyes remained on Zekai. "Release him."
Hella raised an eyebrow.
One of the others laughed. "Marshal seems rather interested in him."
Another voice followed. "The performance is about to begin."
A third scoffed. "Then let it."
The green-haired figure adjusted his grip on the skeletal weapon.
Zekai's gaze shifted toward him.
The weapon looked like a whip made from something that should never have been alive.
Jerom finally spoke. "Remove the restraints."
Hella hesitated. "Marshal—"
"Do what I say." The authority in his voice silenced her immediately.
The chains loosened. Zekai dropped. His feet touched the ground. He immediately twisted his body and rolled away. His eyes went straight toward Null Drakular.
There. His sword was lying several meters away.
Zekai straightened. He rolled his shoulder once. Then twice. His confidence returned.
'Good.' He glanced at the six figures.
Now the game starts. He stepped toward the sword.
The green-haired man smiled. "Careful."
Zekai stopped. Too late.
He didn't hear the attack coming. He heard it after it had already passed.
The world moved.
A black blade flashed toward his neck.
Zekai's instincts screamed. He ducked. The sword passed above his hair.
Fast.
He twisted around. The attacker was already gone.
Zekai's pupils contracted. Something struck his ribs.
BOOM!
He flew sideways. Before his body could hit the ground, a green blur appeared above him.
Vespercoil. The skeletal lash snapped downward.
Zekai crossed his arms. The weapon wrapped around them. Then the world spun. Vespercoil pulled.
Zekai's body smashed through a stone pillar.
CRACK!
The pillar broke apart. Dust exploded into the air. Zekai fell through the debris and rolled across the ground. His ribs screamed. He coughed. Blood touched his lips.
He pushed himself upright. "Frost Heal." Cold spread through his body. The pain faded. His ribs straightened. His breathing stabilized.
Zekai stared at his hands.
'Okay.'
He wiped the blood from his mouth.
'So they hit hard.'
Fine.
He looked toward Vespercoil.
'But I can heal.'
As long as they couldn't kill him faster than Frost Heal could repair him...
He still had a chance. His confidence returned. He reached for Null Drakular.
The black-haired figure moved.
Zekai's expression changed. Too fast— A fist struck his stomach. His body folded.
The Beast grabbed him by the collar and threw him upward.
Zekai flew several meters into the air. He twisted. He had no idea where the Beast was.
Then—A hand closed around his ankle. The Beast slammed him downward.
BOOM!
The ground cracked beneath him. Zekai bounced once. His vision blurred. He tried to rise.
A shadow crossed his face. The Beast's fist descended.
Zekai rolled. The fist missed his skull by inches.
BOOM!
The ground exploded. Zekai stared at the crater.
'That would have killed me.'
He jumped backward. The Beast didn't chase him.
It simply watched. Its eyes moved.
Left.
Right.
Shoulder.
Foot.
Breathing.
Zekai noticed.
'It's observing me.'
The Beast tilted its head. Then smiled.
Zekai's expression hardened.
'It's learning.'
It wasn't looking at Zekai like prey anymore. It was studying him like an opponent it intended to understand completely.
A thin line of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He took another step backward. His eyes moved between the six.
The red-haired Marshal hadn't moved.
Hella hadn't moved.
The blue-haired man with the book hadn't moved.
Astrael hadn't moved.
Only three of them had attacked. And Zekai was already struggling.
'No.'
He clenched his fist.
'I'm not losing.'
He rushed forward. His body moved before his thoughts finished forming.
He grabbed Null Drakular. The instant his fingers touched the hilt, the sword vibrated. A dark pressure surged through his arm.
Zekai grinned. "Now..." He raised the blade. "...my turn."
He swung.
The Beast blocked. The impact shook the battlefield.
Zekai twisted his wrist.
The Beast adjusted.
Zekai changed direction. Blocked again. He stepped left.
The Beast followed.
Right.
Blocked.
High.
Blocked.
Low—
The Beast caught the blade.
Zekai's eyes widened.
It wasn't supposed to be able to read that movement. He had changed the angle halfway through the swing. Even he hadn't known where the blade would end up.
'It learned the pattern already?'
It wasn't merely reacting to him anymore. It was adapting to him.
The Beast pulled.
Zekai released the sword before it could wrench his arm from its socket. He stepped backward. For the first time, his confidence cracked.
The Beast threw Null Drakular away. The sword landed several meters behind Zekai.
The Beast came forward.
Zekai raised his fists. "Fine." He breathed out. "I don't need the sword." He rushed forward.
The Beast met him.
Their fists collided.
Zekai struck.
The Beast blocked.
Zekai changed angles.
Blocked.
A knee.
Blocked.
Elbow.
Blocked.
The Beast countered.
Zekai barely moved his head.
A second punch.
He ducked.
A third.
He stepped back.
A fourth—
The Beast's fist stopped an inch from his face.
Zekai froze.
The Beast had predicted him. Its next movement was already waiting.
No.
Zekai's expression hardened. It had predicted the person who was predicting it.
A knee struck his stomach. Then a fist. Then another.
Zekai's body staggered backward.
He couldn't keep up.
'Why?'
Another strike.
'Why can't I read them?'
Another.
My ability should—
The Beast grabbed his head.
BOOM!
Zekai's face hit the ground. The world went white. For several seconds, he couldn't hear anything.
Then a voice reached him. "Still don't understand?"
Zekai lifted his head. The blue-haired man stood several meters away.
He had opened the ancient black book. Its pages turned by themselves.
Nihil looked down at him. "You are trying to fight us." His finger touched one page. "You should first understand what you are fighting."
Zekai's eyes narrowed. "Save the lecture."
Nihil's expression didn't change. He wrote a single word.
Sound.
The world didn't become quiet. Sound itself ceased to exist.
The battlefield went silent. Zekai's breath disappeared from his ears. No footsteps. No wind. No heartbeat. Nothing.
His eyes widened.
'He erased sound?'
Zekai swallowed.
That wasn't destruction.Destruction left something behind. This had simply made the thing cease to matter.
Astrael spoke for the first time. "Rejected."
Zekai turned. He didn't understand. His body had moved exactly as he intended. But somehow, the movement had failed.
Nothing had stopped him. Nothing had blocked him. It was as though the world had simply decided that his action was not permitted to exist.
'Rejected what?'
Astrael didn't answer. He didn't need to.
He moved. His leg buckled. Zekai stumbled. His body had moved exactly as he intended.
But somehow, the movement had failed. He stared at Astrael. The yellow-haired Witness simply watched him.
Zekai's expression slowly changed.
'They aren't just attacking me.'
'They're controlling the rules around me.'
A red line suddenly appeared across his shoulder. Blood spilled.
Zekai hadn't even seen the attack.
Jerom finally moved. Only one step. The blood dripping from Zekai's wound stopped falling.
Every droplet froze in midair. Not because time had stopped.
Because Jerom had decided the blood no longer belonged to Zekai.
It floated. Zekai stared at the floating droplets. Somehow, the man hadn't controlled his blood.
He had claimed it.
The blood twisted in midair. Then became a spear.
His eyes widened. "Wait—"
The spear shot forward. Zekai twisted. It pierced his side. He gasped.
Jerom looked almost disappointed. "Too slow."
The spear dissolved. Zekai dropped to one knee. Frost spread through his body. The wound closed. He breathed heavily. His hands trembled. Not from pain.
From realization.
'I can't see them.'
'I can't predict them.'
'I can't overpower them.'
'I don't even know what rules they're using.'
He looked toward Null Drakular. It was still lying on the ground. Too far away. He needed to reach it.
Zekai pushed himself upright. Then—
The chains returned.
Clank.
His ankles locked. Zekai froze.
Hella stood in the distance. She hadn't even raised her hand. "You're beginning to understand."
✦ End of Chapter 63 — The Witnesses of the End ✦