The floating cloak slowly shrank, twisting and folding until it wrapped around Senju Haruto's neck like a scarf.
"Do you want to continue?"
Haruto's voice was low as he looked down at Arthur lying on the ground.
"I…"
"I lost."
Arthur paused for three seconds before forcing those words out.
In the face of absolute power, any amount of skill was meaningless. The difference in strength between them was far too great. Even if Haruto simply stood still, they had no hope of victory.
And yet… Arthur didn't feel crushed or hopeless.
After all, Haruto was the new Guardian of the New York Sanctum, not their enemy. Though it stung a little to admit defeat, the thought that Earth would be protected by someone like Haruto left him with a measure of relief—perhaps even joy.
Seeing that Arthur had no intention of continuing the fight, Haruto nodded slightly. With a casual wave of his hand, he released a healing technique, restoring the hundreds of unconscious sorcerers to their original state.
Confused, the sorcerers looked around. None of them understood why they had been lying on the ground. But as their minds gradually cleared, the final fragments of memory surged back.
Each recalled the scene of the floating cloak rushing toward them—followed by the strange sensation of being healed.
Almost instinctively, they turned toward Arthur, only to see him shake his head with a helpless smile tugging at his lips.
Arthur knew some healing magic, but after a battle like this? To heal everyone completely? That was far beyond his ability. Even if he knew the spells, his own reserves of energy could never have supported such a feat.
"I thought that with all the sorcerers of the New York Sanctum working together, we could at least force you to reveal your true power." Arthur shook his head, smiling bitterly. His admiration for Haruto's strength was absolute.
The other sorcerers didn't even need to say anything. Each of them looked at Haruto with reverence, silently vowing that no matter what the future held, they would follow him. Always.
"You think you've seen my true strength?" Haruto couldn't help but laugh at Arthur's words.
If he wasn't mistaken, Arthur probably thought the Tailed Beast Bomb Rasenshuriken had been his ultimate technique.
But in truth…
That move wasn't anything remarkable for him anymore.
In scale and destructive power, it was just… ordinary.
Ordinary, at least, from his perspective.
The things Haruto dismissed as "nothing special" looked like terrifying weapons of devastation in the eyes of Arthur and the other sorcerers.
"Wait… don't tell me earlier…" Arthur froze as Haruto brushed it off so lightly.
"That was just a routine technique," Haruto replied.
To make the point clear, Haruto drew chakra from within his body and summoned his full-body Susanoo.
But this time…
Instead of wielding a Tailed Beast Bomb Rasenshuriken, the colossal figure lifted a bow infused with the power of the Six Paths' Yin energy and Haruto's own Lightning Release.
Indra's Arrow.
The arrow shot forth, piercing the ceiling of the mirrored Sanctum and soaring into the sky.
With a flick of his wrist, Haruto spun the suspended ring and opened a portal before Arthur and the other sorcerers.
It wasn't large, but it led directly into the high atmosphere.
Arthur and the others looked through the portal and saw an island rising from the sea.
Arthur frowned, unsure of what Haruto intended.
Sorcerers they might be, but they weren't primitives. The island framed in the portal was unmistakable—it was Japan, lying between China and the United States.
Arthur was just about to ask Haruto what he meant to show them when a deep rumble rolled through the portal.
Thunder. Deafening and endless, like the wrath of the heavens themselves.
Then—cutting through that storm of sound—a blazing lightning arrow plunged down toward Japan.
Arthur's eyes went wide. His mouth fell open in shock.
Japan.
An arrow.
His mind linked the two instantly, and the realization shook him to his core.
Not just him—every sorcerer present grasped what Haruto had just done.
BOOM!
The thunderous detonation shook the mirrored dimension as the arrow struck the heart of Japan.
The explosion spread outward in rippling shockwaves, erasing everything in its path. Where the wave touched, nothing remained.
At the epicenter, a towering mushroom cloud rose skyward, burning with blinding light.
The island shattered apart under the force of the blast, breaking into fragments before sinking beneath the sea.
"This…"
Arthur sucked in a sharp breath, cold fear spreading through him.
Yes, this was the mirrored dimension, devoid of human life. The island here was merely a reflection—something that could be restored with a single spell.
But… the mirrored dimension was built as an exact counterpart to the real world. Everything here matched Earth's reality.
If Haruto's attack could cause such destruction here, then in the real world, the effect would be identical.
With a single strike—
No.
Not even a serious strike.
With a casual demonstration, he had erased an entire nation from existence.
Such overwhelming strength.
Such godlike power.
This was Senju Haruto.
"That… that was your full power?" Arthur's throat worked as he swallowed hard, his voice trembling with awe.
"It's terrifying… what kind of existence did we just challenge?"
"Yeah. A whole country, gone just like that."
"Japan might not be large, but did you see it? The aftermath kept spreading outward after the island was destroyed."
"If that arrow had been aimed at New York…"
Just imagining it was enough to send shivers down their spines.
But—
"My full power?" Haruto chuckled. "You think I'm that weak?"
Weak?
That had been beyond comprehension!
Arthur felt his worldview crumbling. By Haruto's own words, if he were to unleash his strength without restraint, he could probably wipe out an entire continent with ease.
Such a possibility was terrifying beyond belief.
And this man… he looked barely twenty.
In time, as Haruto's power grew even further…
Arthur's thoughts shuddered at the idea. Perhaps even the great Vishanti themselves might one day be outshone by him.
"Well then, it's time we head back."
Haruto seemed utterly indifferent to their shock. He redirected the portal to the Sanctum.
Guardian of the Sanctum.
The title meant little to him, but it wasn't entirely without use. As for the day-to-day affairs of the Sanctum—Arthur could handle that himself.
"My next target should be…"
Before Haruto could finish the thought, a voice once again echoed in his mind:
Host, please proceed to…