Cid paused for a moment.
Then he spoke honestly—and completely out of place. "No. I'm observing how absolute power can be justified."
Silence.
Claire blinked.
Gabriel held his breath for half a second. "…Cid-kun," he said slowly, "that's a social suicide sentence."
Claire smiled.
A smile soft and gentle, yet carrying a hidden threat.
"Oh? So you think I'm a tyrant?" she asked amiably.
Cid tilted his head, thinking seriously.
"Impossible," he replied. "Tyrants usually don't care about legitimacy. You… you're the one making the laws."
Claire's smile hardened.
Gabriel immediately raised his hands. "I'm neutral! I'm the victim! Don't drag me into this ideological debate—!"
A few seconds later, Cid was sitting on the floor.
His face remained calm, almost expressionless—except for the symmetrical pinch marks on both cheeks, the only evidence that something had just happened.
Claire pulled her hands back and crossed them with a satisfied expression.
"Article Six, Clause Four," she said lightly, as if reading the rules for dinner. "Applies to all younger siblings. No exceptions."
Cid touched his cheek gently, gauging the pain as if analyzing data.
"…Understood."
He stood, straightened his clothes, and bowed slightly—not out of fear, but as a sign that he had just learned something important.
Gabriel looked at him with sympathetic eyes.
"Welcome," he murmured. "You're now officially part of the system."
Cid nodded briefly.
Inside his mind, various concepts began to arrange themselves neatly, forming a stage for the next experiment.
Informal laws.
Authority based on relationships.
Swift execution without lengthy procedures.
A thin smile reappeared at the corner of his lips.
I will apply this principle to Shadow Garden—of course, with a few Shadow adjustments.
For some reason, seeing that smile, Gabriel felt a sense of foreboding.
***
Five days had passed.
The night was adorned with a starry sky and a calmly hanging moon, while ocean waves rolled slowly, reflecting the pale light on their surface.
In the middle of the sea, Gabriel stood upon the water, as if the laws of nature had chosen to hold still before him.
The Slime Weapon shaped into a Shovel was gripped in his hand and slung over his shoulder, while the Ash costume wrapped around his body, blending seamlessly with the thin mist slowly swirling around him.
On the other side, Morgan stood fifteen meters away, also atop the water's surface.
In her right hand, she held a dark blue spear—slender and sharp, reminiscent of Excalibur.
The spear's name was Demonic Speare.
On her left palm hovered a sphere of blue energy, calm like the sea, yet occasionally sparking with flashes that leapt into the air around it.
Morgan stared at Gabriel from afar with little expression.
"Prepare yourself," Morgan said in her characteristic flat tone. "Let me emphasize this— I will not go easy on you."
Gabriel smiled faintly, then pointed the tip of his Shovel toward Morgan standing across from him.
"I told you," he said calmly, "that's exactly what I want, Fay. My goal from the beginning has been to master Haki."
A brief silence settled over the ocean.
Morgan exhaled softly.
"Very well," she said quietly, yet with a palpable weight in her tone, "don't expect me to hold back."
She then raised her left hand toward the sky.
The blue energy sphere trembled for a moment—then shot straight upward, leaving a trail of light that split the night.
Moments later, the sphere exploded—but the blast was nearly silent.
Immediately after, the space in the sky seemed to be pulled and twisted, distorted like the surface of water touched by a fingertip, all converging at the point where the energy sphere had been.
In the next instant, slowly but surely, the sky began to change. Pale blue light spread radially, forming the pattern of a massive circle.
Instantly, the air around them rippled—not from the wind, but from reflection—as if the sky itself had turned into a water surface.
A transparent plane took form.
Smooth.
Calm.
Cold.
Mirror Water.
The layer expanded unhurriedly, stretching in all directions to a radius of one hundred meters, covering the air and reality above the ocean like a dome.
Inside it, the sky had become an ocean. The stars appeared as if they were submerged, while the moon seemed to rest at the bottom of the sea.
In the midst of this surreal ocean, up and down lost all meaning. Sky and sea mirrored each other perfectly.
Every ripple beneath created waves of light above, and flashes of energy in the air reflected in layers, as if the space now possessed a double depth.
A field had formed.
Seeing it all, Gabriel's faint smile gradually shifted—not into a battle grin, but into one of genuine awe.
He turned his gaze toward Morgan in the distance.
"Mirror Water is truly beautiful…" he murmured in his mind. "Like the very existence of its soul."
On the other side, Morgan's hand extended straight toward him, calm yet carrying an invisible pressure.
"Prepare yourself," she said in her signature cold tone.
Like rain pouring from the false sky, dozens of swords and spears erupted from the Mirror Water. The weapons fell in layers, reflecting endlessly, locking onto a single point—where Gabriel stood.
Realizing this, Gabriel drew a short breath.
Thirty Mana outputs within his body activated simultaneously. His muscles tightened, blood flow accelerated, and his footing on the water's surface became steady, as if he were standing on solid ground.
When the dozens of blades hovered three meters above his head, he increased his Gigan Output.
The world slowed.
The sound of waves stretched.
The glint of weapons froze in midair.
SLASH—!! SLASH—!! SLASH—!!
Dozens of mana-infused slashes were unleashed in every direction. Lines of light cut through the air, destroying and deflecting the swords and spears raining down before they could reach his body.
Fragments of mana and reflected light scattered, vanishing into the open space.
Watching the scene, Morgan gave a faint smile. The tip of the Demonic Spear in her right hand twisted, its angle adjusted—thirty degrees, aligned with her body.
Then she thrust it forward.
Without warning, in the midst of the remaining weapon rain, another magical spear suddenly appeared—shooting up from the reflections below and behind Gabriel, aimed directly at his vital point.
But Gabriel had already moved.
Using Ki detection, he read the intent before the form even materialized.
His body shifted swiftly, fluidly, almost like a brushstroke on a canvas—dodging thrust after thrust while creating narrow gaps within the rain of attacks.
The water beneath his feet rippled, yet his stance remained unshaken.
Finally, the storm of weapons ceased.
And in the next instant, Morgan swung the Demonic Spear.
A wave of mana surged forward, rolling like the wrath of nature unleashed from a single swing. The surface of the sea split, magical pressure spreading rapidly, consuming the space between them.
In the still-slowed moment, Gabriel stepped forward instead.
Ki was focused, and mana coursed into the Shovel, tracing a sharp line along its edge. His body leaned forward, then—
SLASH—!!!
The Zetten slash struck directly against the Magecraft released by Morgan. The waves collided, shattering into sparks of light before vanishing.
At the same time, Morgan vanished. The reflection on the water trembled, and a shadowy figure emerged from the Mirror Water on Gabriel's right side.
Without pause, the Demonic Spear swung toward him.
CLANK—!!!
Gabriel blocked it just in time.
The clash of weapons triggered a shockwave that radiated tens of meters in every direction, sending the sea surface into chaotic turbulence—waves rising and crashing unpredictably.
The ocean itself seemed to scream.
With that, the battle between Morgan and Gabriel had truly begun.
The impact of their clash sent distant sea life—including massive sea monsters—fleeing as far as possible, driven purely by instinctive fear.
***
An hour of battle that had shaken the ocean finally passed.
The night sky above the sea had returned to calm, stars shining clearly, and the Mirror Water Magecraft had completely dissipated—as if the colossal dome that had split the world had never existed.
On the now-settling surface of the water, Gabriel lay on his back, floating calmly, staring up at the starry sky.
His expression was serene, yet his mind continued to churn, replaying every moment of the recent fight.
Beside him, Morgan sat atop the water, gazing out over the seemingly endless sea, silent as always.
"I tried every approach during the fight," Gabriel finally murmured. "But in the end… just like five days ago, when I tried mastering Senjutsu—nothing changed."
He exhaled slowly.
For someone whose Mana control reaches five hundred percent, such failure felt strange.
Too clean, too void.
As if there was something inherently untouchable—not due to lack of ability, but because the foundation itself had always been different.
___
Author's note:
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