The space settled again.
No narrator.
No distortions.
Just the group—and whatever had just happened still hanging in the air.
Takeru rolled his shoulder once.
Then looked at Megumi.
"…Megumi."
A small pause.
"…Quiz time."
Megumi blinked.
"…What?"
Takeru continued, completely serious.
"…What are the names of your shikigami?"
Yuji tilted his head.
"…Right now?"
Hana looked between them.
"…This is what we're doing?"
Angel said nothing.
Just observed.
Megumi sighed slightly.
But answered anyway.
"…Divine Dogs."
Takeru nodded once.
"…Confirmed."
Megumi continued.
"…Nue."
"…Toad."
"…Great Serpent."
"…Max Elephant."
"…Rabbit Escape."
A small pause.
"…Mahoraga."
Takeru listened.
Expression unchanged.
Then—
"…Incomplete."
Megumi's brow furrowed slightly.
"…Hm…"
Silence.
Yuji looked between them.
"…Wait, there's more?"
Hana blinked.
"…I thought that was all of them…"
Angel spoke quietly.
"…The Ten Shadows Technique implies ten entities."
Megumi stayed still for a second.
Thinking.
"…Hm…"
Another pause.
Nothing.
Takeru nodded once.
"…Acknowledged."
Megumi glanced at him.
"…Why are you asking this?"
Takeru answered simply.
"…Verification."
Yuji scratched his head.
"…Verification of what?"
Takeru didn't respond immediately.
Just looked at Megumi.
Then—
very slightly—
"…Memory alignment."
Megumi narrowed his eyes.
"…You're testing something."
Takeru didn't deny it.
"…Correct."
Hana looked between them.
"…That narrator thing earlier…"
Angel added:
"…It referenced full mastery."
A quiet realization settled in.
Yuji blinked.
"…Wait—don't tell me…"
Megumi stared at Takeru.
"…You're checking if what it said is actually true."
Takeru nodded once.
"…Yes."
Silence.
Because if it was—
Then that meant something much bigger than just techniques.
And right now—
Megumi didn't even know all of his own.