Arthur watched in shock as the torrent of magic energy was slowly unraveled and absorbed by the Cloak of Levitation.
He had believed that the combined strength of himself and every sorcerer of the New York Sanctum would at least be enough to force Senju Haruto to act—to make him reveal something like Susanoo, the devastating power he used to annihilate dimensional invaders.
But to his utter disbelief, just one artifact in Haruto's possession was enough to render all their combined efforts meaningless.
"At the very least…" Arthur drew in a sharp breath. He was no coward, no man who backed away from danger. The chance to challenge Senju Haruto was rare; even if victory was a distant dream, he had to press forward.
Holding his breath, Arthur focused all of his concentration, searching for a way to force Haruto's hand. From his perspective, the Cloak of Levitation was locked in front of Haruto, absorbing their combined magic head-on. That had to mean Haruto's line of sight was blocked.
If they could strike from behind, maybe—just maybe—they could land a blow that Haruto wouldn't expect.
"This is still the Mirror Dimension… but it's also the mirror of the New York Sanctum." Arthur murmured under his breath, weaving the words into a spell that transmitted directly to his allies. "Even if Haruto is the Sanctum's current protector, when it comes to knowing the Sanctum itself, we hold the advantage."
Every sorcerer here lived and trained in the New York Sanctum. Their understanding of its structure far exceeded that of Haruto, who was only recently tied to this place.
Arthur spun his Sling Ring and conjured a shimmering portal.
In an instant, over a hundred sorcerers cast spells together, channeling their magic through the portal to strike from Haruto's blind side.
It'll work! Arthur clenched his fist, his heart hammering in his chest.
A storm of magical energy poured forth.
At this point, the sorcerers weren't even thinking about defeating Haruto. Their goal had shifted—if they could just force him to fight back, even once, it would be enough.
Any spell, any sign of his hand being forced—it didn't matter how small.
So long as it made him act, their mission would be a success.
"We can do this!" Arthur ground his teeth, eyes burning with determination as he watched the countless streams of energy streak toward Haruto.
But then—something happened he could never have imagined.
Just as the magical storm was about to strike, the Cloak of Levitation suddenly expanded forward at lightning speed, wrapping around their attacks.
The cloak devoured the magic whole. The spells that had been slowly dispersed a moment ago were swallowed in an instant, erased without a trace.
The next second, the cloak shrank back to its normal size and darted behind Haruto, intercepting every single strike emerging from the portals with flawless precision.
Arthur's eyes went wide.
Could it be… that the cloak had the ability to devour their combined magic from the very beginning?
Then why—why hadn't Haruto just destroyed their spell outright? Why had he let it slowly unravel, like he was humoring them?
"Does that mean… in Haruto's eyes, even the combined assault of a hundred sorcerers amounts to nothing more than this?"
As the thought sank in, a crushing weight settled over Arthur.
How vast was the gap between their power and Haruto's?
Even if they gave everything, even if they reached their absolute limits, they couldn't touch him.
Compared to Haruto, their collective strength was like a single drop of water falling into an endless ocean.
Unstoppable. Unbeatable.
Utterly… out of reach.
Why was there such a chasm between them? Why did their worlds feel so far apart?
"It's about time we end this farce."
Haruto's star-like eyes flickered once as the thought passed through his mind. The cloak surged forward with a will of its own, guided only by Haruto's intent.
There was no spell behind it. No ninjutsu. Not even the use of chakra or mana.
It was nothing more than pure, physical impact—yet executed with blinding speed.
The cloak slammed into the chest of a sorcerer, sending him flying.
And then another.
And another.
Like a scythe sweeping through a field of wheat, the cloak cut through them all. Sorcerers dropped one after another, unconscious before they even realized what had hit them.
Only Arthur's eyes could barely track the cloak's movements. But even then, stopping it was impossible.
The scene was so overwhelming that the remaining sorcerers began to falter. Fear gnawed at their composure. Gone was their calm analysis, their teamwork, their focus on complex spells.
Now there was only panic.
Desperately, they tried to distance themselves, to follow the cloak's path with their eyes, hurling whatever spells they could muster to intercept it.
Some of the more desperate ones even opened portals, trying to hurl the cloak into the real world. At the very least, they thought, Haruto wouldn't lose the cloak. An artifact of this level was always retrievable.
But they had underestimated it.
Its bursts of acceleration were beyond anything they could predict. Just as it was about to slip into a portal, the cloak would stop on a dime—then veer in another direction at breakneck speed.
In just a dozen breaths, more than half the sorcerers had already been taken down.
And yet, the cloak's strikes were perfectly precise.
Each sorcerer was knocked out cold, but none suffered lasting injuries. At worst, they'd remain unconscious for a while.
"The Cloak of Levitation… not bad at all."
Haruto smiled faintly, amused.
He had assumed it was far less useful than the Eye of Agamotto or his Zanpakutō. But now he realized it had its place. Even though it lacked a will of its own, its defenses were automatic, instinctive—remarkably effective.
Before long, every last sorcerer in the Sanctum had fallen unconscious under the cloak's relentless strikes.
All except Arthur.
He stood trembling, his body taut with fear as he watched the cloak circle.
But even he couldn't hold out.
His eyes grew dry, strained from keeping them open. Instinctively, he blinked—and in that moment, darkness closed in.
The cloak wrapped around his head and yanked him into a dizzying spiral. His body slammed and whipped in every direction, leaving him dazed and powerless.
It wasn't just defeat.
It was humiliation.
They weren't even being crushed in battle. They were being toyed with.
Thud!
Arthur's body hit the ground hard, pain lancing through every nerve.
He raised his head weakly, vision swimming, and saw Haruto standing there with a calm smile.
"Do you still want to continue?"