"!?"
Loki's head snapped toward the door. She had just finished talking with Finn and the others, but a sudden chill ran down her spine.
What was that? She could feel something dangerous over there—an instinctive sense of being watched, and whatever was watching her carried a threatening presence.
What kind of creature can hide from my eyes? The more she thought about it, the deeper her frown became.
A moment later, a faintly glowing, translucent barrier appeared in the room. Inside it materialized a snow-white Rabbit.
"…A monster Tsuna created?"
Loki blinked in surprise. The Rabbit even gave her a polite little bow, confirming her suspicion.
"So it is the same one Tsunayoshi made earlier."
She walked over and gently scooped the Rabbit into her arms. It was warm and fluffy to the touch—Loki had a soft spot for cute animals like this.
"So, you're testing his ability, huh?"
The Rabbit gave a small nod.
"But why are you testing it in Finn's office of all places?"
The Rabbit clapped its tiny hands together, and a translucent barrier appeared before them. The missing chunk of Finn's desk—previously cut out and sent into the Alternate Dimension—reappeared inside it. This time, however, the barrier stayed in place as the Rabbit pointed toward it.
"You're saying… you came from the Alternate Dimension?"
Loki caught on immediately. From its gestures and demonstration, she pieced together what Tsunayoshi had been experimenting with.
So that uneasy feeling I got earlier… came from the Alternate Dimension?
The realization hit her like a spark. This wasn't some minor discovery. Holding the Rabbit tightly, she turned toward the door and shouted over her shoulder:
"I'm going to confirm something with Tsuna! Finn, keep things running here!"
Without waiting for a response, she bolted down the hall with the Rabbit in her arms, moving faster than most adventurers could react.
She reached Tsuna's door and threw it open—
Bang!
The sound echoed through the hallway as she stood there, panting hard, breath coming out in sharp bursts.
Tsuna blinked, clearly startled by her sudden entrance. Loki slammed the door shut behind her and hurried over.
"Tsuna! You're saying you used that Rabbit to enter the Alternate Dimension, and then you controlled it to wander into another room?"
"Yeah," Tsuna said, nodding. "I was testing how far my ability could go. Like Captain Finn suggested—seeing if I could make my summoned monsters 'fixed' or persistent."
"So you used the same Rabbit that can banish things into the Alternate Dimension?"
"Pretty much. I was just curious about how that banishment worked. I thought it'd be useful to keep that ability ready in case I ever face something—or someone—I can't handle. But… something unexpected happened during the test."
He scratched his head, not quite sure how to describe it.
"The Alternate Dimension really exists," Loki said bluntly. "Just like how your Rabbit sends things there. But here's the key—you noticed it's nearly identical to our own world."
Tsuna froze. Identical to the world?
"That's right," Loki continued, reading his expression. "Think about it. You first created that Rabbit to banish Silence and Gluttony into the Alternate Dimension. You couldn't beat them, and Silence had that magic-nullifying ability. So, you imagined a space that even she would hesitate to step into—a separate, safe zone for you to fight back."
She leaned closer, eyes narrowing. "That's not another world—it's your version of it. You imagined an Alternate Dimension, but the parts you pictured overlapped with parts of the real world. That overlap became its foundation."
She tapped her temple. "Which means the root cause is your imagination."
Loki paused, letting that sink in.
"Whether your imagination can truly create an entire world is still up for debate. But it's strong enough to construct a dimension capable of trapping people—and within those boundaries, who knows how far it can go?"
An Alternate Dimension born from the limits of my imagination…
Tsuna's thoughts raced as he pieced together her analysis. Maybe she was right—maybe it really was his imagination shaping the world of that gray void.
"If that's true…"
He summoned the Rabbit again and guided it back into the Alternate Dimension, steering it toward a room he hadn't seen before.
Sure enough, it was almost identical to his own—same furniture, same layout, only mirrored left to right. Tsuna exhaled softly and had the Rabbit check a few more. Every single one was the same.
"Confirmed," he said. "Every room looks just like mine. The Rabbit's been to several, and the only difference is that mirrored layout."
"Exactly what I thought," Loki replied with a knowing grin. "It's your imagination limiting what you create. That's why it's only an Alternate Dimension—not a full-fledged world. For now, you'd better avoid pushing things too far until you have a real understanding of this world."
Her tone carried both relief and a hint of warning. Tsuna could tell she meant it seriously.
A world is vast, he thought. To imagine one completely, I'd have to understand every part of it and then recreate it in detail within my mind.
That was impossible for now. He let the idea go without hesitation.
Just as Loki warned, trying something that dangerous without fully understanding this world could end badly. His pulse quickened as if his body itself was reminding him not to cross that line.
Still… a thought flickered through his mind.
The Balance Breaker.
A Sacred Gear could evolve into that state when its user's emotions or desires grew powerful enough to twist the laws of the world.
Things impossible under normal circumstances might become reality in a Balance Breaker state.