The barrier shattered.
Not broken — ignored.
Rei's black light bent, folded inward, then simply ceased to exist where the descending presence touched it.
There was no explosion.
No clash.
Just absence.
[Execution-Class Entity: Manifestation Phase — 12%]
The freed heroes screamed.
Not in pain — but in disintegration.
Their outlines flickered, bodies turning translucent, memories unraveling like ash in wind.
"Rei—!" Aria cried.
He reacted instantly.
Not with power.
With rejection.
He stepped forward and slammed his palm into the air itself.
"No," he said.
The word carried weight.
[Narrative Resistance — Forced Activation.]
Reality warped.
The Entity paused.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Enough.
Rei grabbed Aria and the half-liberated heroes, dragging them into the collapsing alley behind the Academy wall.
The world folded.
— — —
They landed hard in the ruins beyond the city.
Dust. Blood. Silence.
One of the freed heroes didn't make it.
There was no body.
Only a gap where a person used to exist.
Aria stared at it, shaking. "It… erased him."
Rei knelt, fists trembling.
"That wasn't an enemy," he said slowly.
"That was a delete command."
Above them, the sky healed itself — too quickly.
As if nothing had happened.
[Execution-Class Entity — Tracking Suspended.]
[Reason: Anomaly Exceeded Risk Threshold.]
Rei laughed once.
Short. Bitter.
"So now you're afraid," he whispered.