Drops of blood fell onto the floor.
Not Reika's.
In front of her, a Hydra let out a low, guttural growl—a colossal beast covered in black scales, one of its heads now missing. White steam rose from the wound, still struggling to heal, but its regeneration was slowing.
Reika stood in its shadow, her dark red eyes faintly glowing. Her hands remained empty—no weapons, no signs of exhaustion. And yet, the head that had vanished… seemed as though it had been devoured by nothingness itself.
Megumi narrowed his eyes.
He had seen many things in his life. He had fought monsters that should have been impossible to defeat, controlled entities that no one should have been able to tame. But this…
This was the first time he felt something was fundamentally wrong on a level he couldn't even begin to explain.
The air around them felt heavier. No sudden movements, no overwhelming surge of cursed energy. But something was… disappearing.
Something that should have been there—was slowly fading away. His gaze flickered to Yuuji across the arena. They exchanged a glance, no words spoken.
Yuuji felt it too. Megumi turned his attention back to the girl. Reika.
Until now, he had thought of her as just another quiet student with some potential. But now? He couldn't ignore the whisper at the back of his mind screaming at him:
Don't get too close.
Megumi rarely—almost never—heard his own instincts warning him this loudly. But even so, he couldn't just back down.
He straightened. "What's your name?" Reika lifted her head slightly, her expression unchanging.
"…Reika."
Megumi let the name sink in for a moment. Then, he glanced back at Yuuji. "I'm going to take this fight more seriously. You mind?"
Yuuji crossed his arms, his gaze glinting slightly. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Go ahead. Just don't regret it later." Silence hung in the air.
The wind inside the arena felt frozen. Reika remained where she stood. Unmoving. Unfazed.
But off to the side, Himari, still panting, watched with a deep furrow in her brow. Tetsuya sat on the ground, his mind still struggling to process what had just happened. Even Ryou, sharp as ever, swallowed hard for the first time in silence.
They could all feel it.
Something had shifted. Megumi moved his fingers slightly, forming a hand seal. Something bigger was coming.
Reika simply stared at him. With eyes so deep—so abyssal—they seemed to swallow their own shadows. Megumi stepped forward. And in an instant—he vanished.
No. Not vanished.
He moved so fast that the air split around him, his steps echoing a second too late.
From across the arena, Himari gasped. Ryou clenched his fists instinctively. Tetsuya held his breath.
THUD!
Three black figures surged forward from Megumi's direction—wolves from The Well's Unknown Abyss (不知井の大庭, Fushichi no Ōniwa).
Reika did not move.
She simply watched them, wearing the expression of someone witnessing something both beautiful and fragile.
One of the wolves lunged, its fangs aiming straight for her throat.
And suddenly—The world went silent. In the blink of an eye, the wolf stopped midair.
Not because of anything visible—no technique, no barrier, no unseen force holding it back. Yet, its body had frozen, like a puppet whose strings had been severed before it could complete its dance.
A slow, creeping sensation crawled up Megumi's spine.
This… wasn't gravity.
The wolf was… disappearing.
Not being torn apart. Not exploding. Not dissolving into shadows. Just vanishing. Like the Hydra's head before. Like something that should exist—but was slowly, inevitably fading.
Megumi wasted no time. His hands flew into another seal. "Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden!"
Darkness erupted.
Shadows flooded the arena, swallowing everything into a pulsating, living void that breathed and writhed like a sentient abyss. Black water surged from the ground, dissolving the boundaries between reality and illusion.
In this domain, he was king. Megumi did not hesitate. He attacked.
The first strike came from below—shadows sharpened into spears, striking at Reika from all angles.
She did not move.
The second strike came from behind—the remaining wolves lunged at her, their speed nearly impossible to evade.
She still did not move.
The third strike came from above—a massive shadowy hand fell like a guillotine.
And then—
ZAAAAP.
The shadows that should have pierced through her… stopped. Like the wolf before. Like the Hydra before. The attack did not hit.
It did not bounce off. It was not blocked. It simply vanished. As if the energy within it had been… consumed.
Megumi staggered. His chest rose and fell. His eyes widened.
And for the first time in this battle—Reika moved.
One step.
Not fast. Not slow.
As if she had finally decided to join a dance that had already begun long ago. And that was enough. "Guh—!"
Megumi dropped to one knee. His eyes widened, his hands trembled. His strength… was gone.
He wasn't exhausted. He wasn't injured. He hadn't even expended too much energy. But something was… draining him.
Every breath felt heavier than the last. And that was when he realized something that sent a cold chill down his spine: Reika had not attacked even once.
Megumi struggled to lift his head.
And in front of him, Reika stared down at him with those deep, dark red eyes—shifting, like living shadows.
Her expression was blank. But Megumi could feel something lurking beneath it. Something feral.
Something beyond words. For the first time, Megumi felt something eerily close to—
"Megumi!"
Yuuji's voice cracked through the air like thunder. And when Megumi turned—What he saw shocked him more than anything else.
Yuuji… his eyes were wide. The man who had fought Sukuna. The man who had faced horror in its purest form. The man who should have been immune to fear.
But now?
He was staring at Reika with an expression that could only be described with one word:
Shock.
Something felt off.
Megumi sensed it in the silence that hung between them. His breathing remained steady, but something was wrong. Something was slowly gnawing at him, like sand slipping away grain by grain—imperceptible at first, yet before he knew it, half of it was gone.
From the outside, their fight seemed evenly matched. Reika still stood before him, her dark eyes empty, her jet-black hair—so dark it absorbed light—stirring slightly as a cold breeze slipped into the training arena. As if nothing had changed.
But Megumi could feel it.
His energy… was fading.
"Megumi."
Yuuji's voice broke the tension. His tone was heavy, laced with a clear warning. Like a rope stretched too tight, ready to snap.
"Stop."
Megumi didn't turn. His gaze remained locked on Reika, his mind racing to find an answer that wasn't there. What was happening? He hadn't taken a major hit. No fatal wounds. No reason to feel like this. Yet his body was growing heavier.
"Megumi."
This time, firmer. Sharper. But Megumi wasn't the type to back down just because something felt 'off.' "I can keep going."
That stubbornness was ingrained in him. And that was a mistake.
He attacked again, shadows spreading rapidly across the floor, summoning another shikigami—but his movements weren't as fast as before. He didn't realize it himself, but those watching could see the difference.
Reika, on the other hand, remained the same. That same empty expression. That same steady pace.
And then—
Reika was hit.
Megumi's strike landed squarely on her shoulder, hard enough to send her stumbling back. For the first time since the fight began, Reika faltered, losing balance. Her breath hitched for a fraction of a second before her foot slid slightly to stabilize herself—but still, it was a clean hit.
Yuuji tensed. Ryou narrowed his eyes. Himari raised an eyebrow, skeptical. Tetsuya gawked. Did Megumi… win? No, not win. But he was clearly in control.
Even Megumi wasn't sure what had just happened. It was too easy. Reika hadn't moved to dodge like before. Hadn't reacted the way she usually did. She had just stood there and taken the hit.
Why?
Reika slowly lifted her head, her expression unreadable, then lowered her hand from her struck shoulder.
"Ah."
A small sound escaped her lips, as if she had just realized she'd been hit.
Then, she smiled. "I lost." As if nothing was wrong. As if this was perfectly normal. And that was when doubt began to creep into Megumi's mind.
…Had he really won?
Or was something else happening here?
Before he could think any further, Yuuji had already stepped in, positioning himself between them. "The fight is over." His voice was firm, commanding. "That's enough."
Megumi wanted to say something, to figure it out—but he caught Yuuji's sharp gaze.
The fight was over.
And Reika? She just stood there, her expression as blank as ever.
But for those who truly paid attention… there was something in her eyes. Something dark. Something… satisfied.
But no one noticed. Not Megumi. Not Yuuji. Not anyone. No one realized that victory didn't belong to Megumi.
It belonged to Reika. A victory that had been planned from the very beginning. Megumi remained still.
His fists were clenched at his sides, his breath slightly heavy, cold sweat lingering at the nape of his neck. His eyes stayed locked on Reika, who stood across from him, calm as ever, as if nothing had happened. No signs of exhaustion. Not even the slightest change in her expression.
As if… she had never truly fought at all. Even a child could tell Reika was lying.
This wasn't about pride or ego. It wasn't about winning or losing. Megumi didn't care about that. He just wanted to know why.
"Don't mess with me," he said, his voice lower than usual, laced with disbelief.
Reika lifted her gaze, meeting his. There was no emotion there, only an unsettling serenity. Like the surface of water—too still, too quiet… too unnatural.
"I'm not messing with you," she replied, her tone flat. "I lost."
No.
There was no world in which Megumi could believe that.
He knew what it felt like to fight someone stronger. He had battled the most powerful before—he knew what it was like. When you stood against someone truly above you, there was an inescapable pressure. A crushing, indescribable weight.
And when he fought Reika just now—he felt it. Even if only for a moment. That wasn't something that could be faked.
"Stop pretending," Megumi's voice hardened. "I fought you seriously. I know you can fight seriously too. So why?" Why had she let herself get hit? Why had she let herself lose?
Yuuji sighed, his expression slightly uneasy, but he didn't interfere. Ryou watched with arms crossed, his face unreadable. Himari raised an eyebrow, while Tetsuya stared at Reika with wide eyes, as if realizing something he couldn't quite grasp.
But among them all, only Reika remained unshaken. Like a porcelain doll untouched by time. Then, she spoke.
"I did lose," she said, with an honesty that couldn't be explained. "I'm not a great sorcerer, Megumi."
Silence.
Megumi didn't blink. He only stared deeper into Reika, searching for something beneath her words. A lie, a trick, a hidden motive.
But there was nothing.
Just simple words, without a single flaw to challenge. And that was what felt wrong. Megumi knew—perfection itself was the most suspicious imperfection.
And Reika was too perfect in her lie.
Or… was it even a lie?
He should be able to read people. He knew how to tell good intentions from manipulation. But with Reika… he couldn't.
Because Reika showed no signs of deception. Because the best lie was the one that didn't sound like a lie. And for the first time—Megumi wasn't sure of his own instincts.
Reika looked at him once more, her eyes hollow yet deep, then lowered her head slightly—almost as if she were truly apologizing.
"Thank you for fighting me seriously."
And in that moment, Megumi felt something creeping into his chest.
Not victory.
Not satisfaction.
Just… a strange sense of unease.
As if he had just stepped into a game he didn't understand—one where Reika was a far more experienced player.
As if he had just lost…
To someone who claimed they had lost.