The roar of dozens of motorcycle engines vibrated through the ancient wooden floors of the Ryōzanpaku dojo.
Outside the gates, the street was choked with the rank-and-file members of Ragnarok.
They weren't just scouts this time; they were a mob, led by the heavy-hitters Ukita and a visibly reluctant Takeda, seeking to reclaim the "honor" lost in the alleyway.
Inside the courtyard, Kenichi was trembling so hard his knees were knocking together.
"They're here! The whole gang is here! Lucifer-san, what are we going to do?!"
Lucifer didn't answer.
He was standing perfectly still, holding a simple, unrefined wooden staff he had been using for his sessions with Shigure Kōsaka.
Shigure stood a few paces behind him, her eyes—usually as cold and sharp as the steel she forged—were fixed on his back.
Beside her, her pet mouse, Tochūmaru, sat on her shoulder.
Surprisingly, the mouse wasn't hiding; it was sniffing the air toward Lucifer, its tiny nose twitching with a strange sense of familiarity.
"The crowd... is noisy,"
Shigure murmured, her voice like the sliding of a blade into a scabbard.
"They disturb... the rhythm of the forge."
"I'll quiet them down,"
Lucifer said.
Lucifer walked toward the gates. He didn't rush.
Every step was a manifestation of the Ryuusui Kinntyou movement he'd been practicing—fluid, effortless, and heavy with intent.
As he reached the gate, the Ragnarok members began to jeer.
"There he is! The 'Prodigy'! Look at the stick! What are you gonna do, kid? Poke us to death?"
Lucifer didn't say a word. He raised the wooden staff horizontally.
He didn't activate his Force Field. Instead, he channeled Void Severance.
He didn't just coat the staff; he projected the spatial thinning outward, creating an invisible, paper-thin plane of "Nothingness" that extended thirty feet in either direction.
With a single, blindingly fast horizontal sweep—a move Shigure had taught him only hours before—Lucifer cut the air.
Shiiiinnn.
There was no sound of impact. No sparks. No explosions.
A heartbeat later, every single motorcycle parked in the street—over forty machines—simply slumped.
The front forks, the engines, the fuel tanks, and the tires had all been sliced perfectly in half along a single, mathematical line.
Fuel began to hiss onto the pavement as the top halves of the bikes slid off the bottom halves with a synchronized metallic thud.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Not a single drop of blood had been spilled, but the message was louder than any scream.
Lucifer lowered the staff.
"The next sweep will be six inches higher,"
He said, his teenage voice carrying a cold, adult authority.
"Clear the street."
The Ragnarok members didn't wait for a second warning.
They scrambled, tripping over their ruined machines, fleeing in a wave of pure, unadulterated terror.
Even Ukita and Takeda looked stunned, Takeda giving a small, knowing nod before turning his back on the chaos.
Lucifer walked back into the courtyard, the "Chaotic Energy" within him settling into a quiet hum.
Shigure was still standing there.
Tochuūmaru suddenly leaped from her shoulder, scurrying across the ground and climbing up Lucifer's leg to perch on his shoulder.
The mouse nuzzled against his neck, sensing the "Void" energy that mirrored the silent stillness Shigure lived in.
Shigure approached him, her gaze intense.
"The cut... was clean,"
She whispered.
"You did not... waste a single movement. You and the wood... were one. But more... Tochuumaru likes you. It only likes... those who are silent inside."
Raven stepped up beside them. The "reset" had done more than just remove her jealousy; it had sharpened her empathy into something clinical and profound.
She looked at Shigure—the woman who hid behind steel and silence—and then at Lucifer.
Raven felt no spike of annoyance. Instead, she felt a strange, resonant kinship.
"She is like me, Lucifer,"
Raven said, her voice soft and melodic.
"She operates in the spaces between words. She understands the world through the coldness of her craft because she is afraid of the warmth of her own heart."
Shigure tilted her head, her long hair falling over her shoulder. She didn't deny it.
She couldn't.
Raven turned her violet eyes to Lucifer, then back to the weapon master.
"Shigure. You have much to teach him about the blade. But perhaps... he has something to teach you about life. You should stay closer to him. Observe him as he navigates the chaos of his emotions. It is a more difficult forge than steel."
Shigure looked at Lucifer, then at the devoted girl standing by his side.
A faint, almost invisible flush touched the weapon master's cheeks.
"To observe... the forge of the soul,"
She repeated.
"I... will consider this."
Lucifer blinked, slightly overwhelmed by Raven's sudden "matchmaking" for the sake of emotional data, but he couldn't deny the efficiency of having the world's greatest weapon master as a constant observer.
[System Progress Update: $100,000 gained through 'Absolute Non-Lethal Domination']
[Current Progress: $8,825,000 / $3,500,000]
[Void-Blade Mastery: 45%]
[Relationship Update: Shigure Kōsaka - Status: Intrigued/Protective]
[Relationship Update: Tochūmaru - Status: Bonded]
As the masters watched from the balcony, Akisame stroked his chin.
"To convince Shigure to engage in 'social observation'... that girl Raven is more dangerous than the boy."
"APAPA!"
Apachai cheered.
"More friends! More training! Everyone is happy!"
Lucifer looked at the mouse on his shoulder, the "devoted" Raven on his left, and the "curious" Shigure on his right.
He had come here to avoid the story, but it seemed he was accidentally writing a new one.
Craze: Read up to chapter 100 at [email protected]/phelio