Inside the Chaos Zone, reality no longer behaved correctly.
The sky flickered between day and night.
Buildings bent at impossible angles.
The streets below stretched endlessly one second and returned to normal the next.
Even the sound of burning flames echoed seconds late.
At the center of it all—
Isly floated calmly in the air with her black staff resting across her shoulder.
Her amber eyes glowed faintly.
Below her, Number 9 slowly exhaled.
The strings around her body moved like living things.
Then she smiled.
"Nightmare Fantasy."
The world shifted instantly.
The rooftops disappeared, the city vanished and darkness spread everywhere.
Then—
BOOM!
Number 9 dashed toward Isly.
But the moment she moved the ground beneath her suddenly disappeared.
An endless black pit opened below.
Number 9 clicked her tongue.
"Tch… annoying."
She stepped on the air itself and pushed herself upward again.
The strings behind her snapped through the air violently as she rushed toward Isly.
Her fist shot forward toward Isly's face but suddenly a voice echoed behind her.
"Are you blind?. I'm not there."
Number 9's eyes widened.
She turned instantly and punched behind herself.
BOOM!
Nothing.
Only another afterimage.
Then another voice came from her left.
"Too slow."
She spun again and punched.
The image vanished.
Then another appeared above her.
Then beneath her.
Then behind her again.
Every version of Isly looked completely real.
Each one smiled differently.
Each one spoke at different times.
Number 9 clenched her teeth.
In her head she thought—
I know nightmares won't overwhelm chaos…
Because chaos is random…Nothing works normally here.
Suddenly—
"FEAR MANIFESTATION!"
Black energy exploded from Number 9's body.
The fear of nearby civilians was pulled violently into the Chaos Zone.
Screams echoed. Then monsters began appearing.
Twisted humanoid creatures crawled into existence around the zone.
Some had giant mouths.
Some had dozens of eyes.
Others dragged themselves across the rooftops with broken limbs.
But the moment they fully entered the domain they began glitching.
Their bodies distorted.
One creature stretched upward infinitely before collapsing.
Another flickered in and out of existence.
One monster tried to roar but its mouth appeared on the side of its neck instead.
Isly looked down calmly.
Then smiled.
"I don't fear you. So your fear manifestation won't work."
Her amber eyes glowed brighter.
The monsters suddenly began attacking each other instead.
One dissolved into static.
Another turned into butterflies made of black fire.
Number 9 stared upward in frustration.
"Shit…What do I do?"
Then a voice echoed from the palace, cold and disappointed.
"Is that weakness I'm seeing?"
Number 9 froze.
The voice roared again—
"NEVER SHOW WEAKNESS!!"
The entire Chaos Zone trembled slightly from the pressure behind those words.
Number 9 immediately lowered her head.
"Forgive me my lord…I know what I must do."
Her hands trembled slightly.
Then she slowly raised her head again.
Inside her mind she's thought:
The only way a servant of the Round Table goes…
…is to die trying.
The strings around her body suddenly expanded violently.
Thousands of them spread through the Chaos Zone like spiderwebs.
Buildings were pierced apart.
Roofs split open.
Even the distorted sky itself seemed stitched together by crimson threads.
Isly watched silently.
Then sighed.
"You people really don't know when to quit."
BOOOOM!!
Number 9 launched herself forward again.
This time faster. Much faster.
The strings behind her compressed into dozens of spears that shot toward Isly from every direction.
But Isly calmly raised one finger.
"Distortion."
The spears instantly changed direction.
Instead of hitting her they curved backward and pierced nearby buildings instead.
Number 9 appeared directly in front of Isly.
Their eyes met.
Then—
BAM! BAM! BAM!
A rapid close-quarters exchange erupted midair.
Number 9 punched toward Isly's jaw.
Isly leaned back slightly.
The fist barely missed her nose.
Isly swung her staff horizontally.
Number 9 ducked beneath it and kicked upward toward Isly's ribs.
Isly twisted sideways in the air and avoided it by inches.
Then her staff suddenly extended unnaturally.
CRACK!
It smashed Number 9 in the shoulder.
Number 9 grunted and spun backward.
But strings immediately pulled her body forward again like puppeteer wires.
She rushed Isly once more.
This time the strings wrapped around her fists.
"Nightmare Pierce!"
She punched forward.
The strings spiraled around her arm like drills.
Isly narrowed her eyes.
Then smiled.
BOOOOM!!
Black flames exploded from her body.
The strings ignited instantly.
Number 9 cut them away before the flames could spread to her arms.
Then Isly vanished.
Number 9's pupils shrank.
Where—?!
A whisper came beside her ear.
"Chaos Magic - Heaven's Error."
Suddenly the space around Number 9 folded inward.
The rooftops around her flipped upside down.
Gravity changed directions instantly.
Number 9 lost balance for a split second and that was enough.
BAM!!
Isly kicked her directly in the stomach.
Number 9 spat blood and crashed through three rooftops below.
CRAAASH!!
Dust exploded upward.
The Chaos Zone flickered again.
Isly floated above silently.
Then she slowly descended toward the shattered street.
Number 9 stood up from the rubble breathing heavily.
Blood dripped from her lips.
Her body shook slightly.
Isly landed several meters away.
Staff resting against her shoulder.
"You're more durable than I thought."
Number 9 laughed weakly.
"Thanks…"
"Coming from you I'll take it as a compliment."
The strings around her suddenly began piercing into her own skin.
Blood dripped down her arms.
Isly noticed immediately.
"You're sacrificing more of yourself."
Number 9 smiled.
"That's how symbolic magic works."
"If the body breaks…"
"Then offer the soul."
The strings began glowing darker.
The pressure around her increased again.
Even Isly's Chaos Zone started reacting slightly.
Isly's smile slowly faded.
"Man…You people are insane."
Number 9 suddenly disappeared.
BOOOM!!
She appeared directly in front of Isly and punched.
This time Isly blocked.
The impact shook the entire zone.
Number 9 continued attacking relentlessly.
Punch.
Kick.
Elbow.
Strings pierced from impossible angles.
The two women moved through the air and rooftops exchanging attacks at high speed.
Number 9 spun low and kicked at Isly's legs.
Isly jumped upward.
Strings instantly chased her from below.
She twirled her staff once.
"Barrier."
A black shield formed around her.
The strings slammed against it repeatedly.
Then Number 9 appeared above her.
"Found you!"
She swung both fists downward.
BOOOOM!!
The barrier cracked.
Isly's eyes widened slightly.
Number 9 grinned wildly.
"There you are."
Then suddenly the world around them distorted again.
Number 9 blinked.
Isly was gone.
"What—?"
A voice echoed from everywhere.
"You finally touched the real me."
Number 9 froze.
Then the buildings around her suddenly became thousands of floating black staffs.
The sky split apart.
The ground disappeared again.
And dozens of glowing amber eyes opened across the Chaos Zone.
Number 9 slowly backed away.
"…What the hell…"
Then every eye blinked simultaneously.
Isly's voice echoed through the entire domain.
"Welcome to chaos."
Far away—
another battlefield.
Cold air drifted silently through ruined streets.
Frost formed over broken buildings.
Snowflakes slowly fell from the sky despite the burning city around them.
A girl stood there.
Her hands glowed with red fire.
The heat from her body burned everything within a nine-square-meter area.
Across from her Stellar slowly stood up.
Her silver hair moved softly with the wind.
Just from her breathing frost escaped from her lips.
The air around her froze quietly.
The girl smiled.
"I am Number 8 of the Round Table."
Stellar looked at her expressionlessly.
"I don't care who you are."
Then frost slowly spread beneath Stellar's feet.
"Know that you will die."
The girl laughed loudly.
Red flames erupted around both her arms.
"Well then…Come and try."