Chapter — Four Against One
Aoikishi stood alone in the center of the field.
Across from him stood Kaosu, Raiyo and Yamiya.
Nyxus sat on a broken pillar eating a honeybun.
Kaosu looked over. "Are you fighting?"
Nyxus nodded. "Yeah."
"When?"
"When I'm done."
Kaosu's eye twitched. "We're starting now."
"I know."
Aoikishi sighed.
"Begin."
Kaosu moved first.
One red thread entered the ground.
Nothing happened.
Aoikishi stepped forward.
A crack appeared beneath his heel.
He moved left.
Exactly where Kaosu wanted him.
Raiyo drew.
"Microcut."
Aoikishi's safest escape route disappeared.
He adjusted.
A second calamity triggered.
A pillar collapsed toward him.
Aoikishi stepped backward.
Raiyo cut the relationship between Aoikishi and that retreat.
Yamiya watched.
Aoikishi still had too many options.
Twelve.
Yamiya raised one hand.
"Reduction."
Twelve became eight.
Aoikishi immediately looked toward her.
Eight became four.
Four became two.
Aoikishi's expression sharpened.
Two became one.
Raiyo saw it.
His sword flashed.
The final safe route disappeared.
Kaosu arrived.
His fist struck Aoikishi's guard.
BOOM.
Aoikishi slid backward several meters.
Kaosu's eyes widened.
Then he started laughing.
"I MOVED HIM!"
Raiyo snapped, "We moved him."
"I hit him."
"Because I removed his escape."
"Because Yamiya removed his other escapes."
Yamiya sighed. "This is going well."
Nyxus continued eating.
Aoikishi disappeared.
He reappeared beside Nyxus.
Nyxus looked up.
Aoikishi calmly took the honeybun from his hand.
Nyxus froze.
Aoikishi returned to the battlefield.
He held the honeybun up.
"If you lose, I'll erase the concept of honeybu—"
Nyxus was already standing.
White code exploded across his vision.
TRAINING INSTANCE: RESOLUTION PENDING
TEAM_ACT_RESULT: LOSSAOIKISHI_RESULT: VICTORY
RESOLUTION: AUTHORIZED
Nyxus's eyes widened.
"No."
The others stopped.
Nyxus stared directly at the code.
"Access Denied."
The world jolted.
TEAM_ACT_RESULT: LOSS
STATUS: DENIED
LOGICAL VALIDITY:TEAM_ACT_LOSS = FALSE
Aoikishi's smile vanished.
Kaosu looked around. "What did he do?"
Yamiya stared at Nyxus. "Something different."
Raiyo understood.
"He didn't deny an attack."
Aoikishi looked at the code.
"No."
Nyxus walked toward him.
Aoikishi could still attack.
He could still overpower Nyxus.
He could still defeat Kaosu, Raiyo and Yamiya individually.
But TEAM ACT LOSES had been denied.
Reality could declare a draw.
It could postpone the result.
It could create some absurd third resolution.
It could do almost anything.
Except make them lose.
Nyxus reached Aoikishi.
He took the honeybun back.
Then he bit into it.
"I win."
Aoikishi replied, "No."
Nyxus pointed toward the code.
Aoikishi clarified, "You didn't authorize yourself to win. You denied the system's authorization to resolve you as the loser."
Nyxus chewed.
"Same thing."
Raiyo immediately replied, "Those are completely different things."
Kaosu shrugged. "Sounds like winning to me."
Aoikishi wasn't listening anymore.
He was staring at Nyxus.
Because there was something deeply wrong with what had just happened.
Nyxus wasn't overpowering reality.
He was behaving like someone with administrative authority over it.
And Aoikishi knew Nyxus shouldn't have that authority.
Not yet.