The Omniverse did not react immediately.
That was the most terrifying part.
No alarms.
No divine retaliation.
No cosmic correction.
Just a deep, unnatural stillness—as if existence itself was holding its breath.
The ruins of the Extreme Magic Academy drifted in silence, fragments spinning slowly through fractured space. Where once portals connected thousands of worlds, now there were only torn edges of reality that refused to heal.
Nyx stood among the wreckage, her expression tight.
"They'll pretend nothing happened," she said.
"At first."
Zento wiped blood from his mouth, forcing himself upright.
"Who?"
Nyx looked up.
Not to the sky.
Beyond it.
"The Real Gods."
That word landed heavier than any blow.
Kaiser clenched his fists, flames flickering unevenly along his arms.
"So what were those Executors to them?"
"Soldiers?"
Nyx shook her head.
"Executors were a firewall.
A lie designed to take the blame."
She turned toward Shadow Xenon.
"You just erased their excuse."
Shadow Xenon stood apart from the group, cloak torn, aura reduced to a faint pressure that still made space feel unstable. The wounds on his body hadn't healed—but they also hadn't worsened.
He wasn't bleeding because he couldn't heal.
He was bleeding because he didn't care to.
"They're already watching," he said calmly.
The air shifted.
Reflexo felt it first.
His light reacted instinctively, forming a thin shield without him even thinking about it.
"Something's wrong," he said.
"This isn't Executor-level pressure."
Renox slowly raised his head.
His expression had changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
"They're closing observation layers," he said quietly.
"That means…"
He didn't finish.
The sky above the ruins dimmed.
Not darkened.
Dimmed—like someone turning their face away.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE WITNESSES
Three figures appeared.
No portals.
No sound.
They simply existed where space decided it could no longer resist them.
They wore no armor.
No crowns.
No visible weapons.
Just cloaks of pale white and black, their faces hidden behind smooth masks marked with a single symbol: an unbroken circle.
Nyx stiffened.
"Judicators…"
Kaiser growled.
"That sounds worse than Executors."
Nyx didn't answer immediately.
"They don't fight," she finally said.
"They confirm."
Zento felt cold crawl up his spine.
"Confirm what?"
One of the Judicators spoke.
Not aloud.
Inside their heads.
"Confirmation complete."
"Demonic Divine Warriors are active."
The second voice followed.
"Executor system: destroyed."
The third paused.
Longer.
"Shadow Xenon… verified."
That was the moment the pressure hit.
Not an attack.
A measurement.
Every cell in Zento's body screamed. Kaiser dropped to one knee. Reflexo's light nearly collapsed. Renox grit his teeth, blood running from his nose.
Shadow Xenon remained standing.
Unmoved.
One Judicator tilted its head.
"Power level exceeds prediction."
Shadow Xenon spoke aloud.
"Stop measuring me."
The Judicator turned toward him.
"Why?"
Shadow Xenon's voice was flat.
"You won't like the answer."
For the first time, the Judicators hesitated.
Nyx took a sharp breath.
"You don't understand what you're doing," she snapped at them.
"If you escalate this—"
"Escalation already occurred,"
one Judicator replied.
"By order of the Thrones."
The symbol on their masks glowed.
Reality folded inward.
THE FIGHT NO ONE WAS MEANT TO SEE
They moved.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Absolute.
One Judicator appeared in front of Zento and struck him with a single open palm. No explosion. No flash.
Zento was launched across three shattered platforms, crashing hard, armor flickering violently.
Kaiser roared and charged, flames roaring as he punched—
The Judicator caught his fist.
Extinguished the fire.
And threw him aside like he weighed nothing.
Reflexo reacted instantly, light bending space, wrapping around all three Judicators—
They walked through it.
Not breaking it.
Ignoring it.
Renox vanished, reappearing behind one Judicator, striking with everything he had.
The impact cracked reality.
The Judicator didn't even turn.
It backhanded him mid-air.
Renox hit the ground and didn't move.
"REN—!"
Zento tried to stand.
Shadow Xenon moved.
He didn't rush.
He didn't teleport.
He walked.
Every step distorted the space beneath his feet.
The Judicators finally turned fully toward him.
"You are an anomaly beyond containment."
Shadow Xenon stopped.
"No," he said.
"I'm a reminder."
He drew his blade fully this time.
The Omniverse flinched.
THE FIRST CRACK IN GODHOOD
The Judicators attacked together.
Shadow Xenon met them head-on.
No flashy techniques.
No shouting.
Just pure, impossible precision.
A strike meant to erase his upper body—
He stepped inside it.
Slashed once.
The Judicator's mask cracked.
Light poured out.
Not divine.
Panicked.
"Damage registered—impossible—"
Shadow Xenon kicked it back into the void.
The second Judicator tried to bind him with law-based chains.
Shadow Xenon cut the chains.
Then cut the law behind them.
The third Judicator finally did something none of them had done before.
It retreated.
Nyx stared in disbelief.
"They're pulling back…"
Shadow Xenon lowered his blade slightly.
"Good," he said.
"Take the message with you."
The remaining Judicators vanished.
The sky slowly reopened.
AFTERMATH: THE WAR IS OFFICIAL
Zento dragged himself upright, shaking.
"That wasn't a battle," he said.
"That was a warning."
Nyx nodded grimly.
"To them," she said.
"So was your survival."
Shadow Xenon turned toward the group.
"From now on," he said,
"there's no neutral ground."
He looked at each of them.
"No academies.
No observers.
No systems to hide behind."
His voice lowered.
"Only sides."
Far away, beyond space and time—
The Thrones began to move.
And the real war finally acknowledged them.