Chapter — The Man Who Came Back
Karma's first strike carried enough force to erase the horizon.
Aoikishi shifted one hand.
The attack split around him.
Not blocked.
Something about its relationship to impact had been removed.
Karma smiled.
He attacked again.
Aoikishi touched the air.
Distance folded.
The strike landed somewhere else.
A dead universe shattered several layers away.
Karma laughed.
"Space?"
Aoikishi replied, "Among other things."
Karma activated the Escutcheon.
Reality surrounded him like a terrified animal.
Aoikishi stepped forward.
The Escutcheon bent his approach.
Aoikishi stopped.
Then traced one finger through the air.
The red shell split.
Karma's eyes narrowed.
Aoikishi had cut the relationship between the defense and the thing it defended.
Raiyo stared.
Even injured, he understood exactly what he'd seen.
His own technique.
Except effortless.
Perfect.
Karma looked at the severed Escutcheon.
Then at Kaosu.
Then back at Aoikishi.
Understanding began.
"The techniques."
Aoikishi smiled.
Karma's expression changed.
"Kaosu's Chaos."
Aoikishi said nothing.
Karma stepped closer.
"That wasn't scholarship."
Still nothing.
Karma's smile slowly returned.
"You remember it."
Aoikishi's eyes cooled.
Karma laughed.
"How old are you?"
Aoikishi raised one hand.
"Old enough to know you talk too much."
Space broke.
Karma vanished beneath a geometric collapse.
The entire Battlefield folded around him.
Then exploded outward.
Karma emerged laughing.
He struck.
Aoikishi caught the punch.
The multiverse shook.
Kaosu stared at them.
Neither moved.
Then Aoikishi looked over his shoulder.
At ACT.
At Torin.
At Voss.
His expression changed.
Decision made.
Aoikishi opened his hand.
A circular portal formed beneath everyone except Karma.