Raine needed no further tests to understand.
Reynard Callistra was not an opponent who could be dealt with like the others.
The moment his attack vanished, Raine realized that what he was facing wasn't just a powerful technique… but an entirely different concept of power itself.
But that was no reason to retreat.
Quite the opposite.
"Enough with the tests," Raine said, planting his feet firmly on the ground. "I don't care what you can do… or even who you are."
At that moment, the sky trembled.
As if his words were not mere words… but a declaration of war.
A faint smile formed on Reynard's face. It wasn't mockery… but something closer to genuine interest.
"So, you still have that will," he muttered before slightly raising his hand.
And in that instant—
The space between them cracked.
It wasn't a direct attack. It wasn't a surge of energy or a radiant blade.
It was the collapse of space itself.
Had it been anyone else standing there, they would have been crushed instantly.
But Raine was not just anyone.
As the fracture spread, the Black Butterfly flared with a deep violet glow, as if unraveling the very threads binding the world together.
And the attack collapsed before it could reach him.
"You're different from what I expected," Reynard murmured, lowering his hand.
"What was that?" Raine asked, his eyes locked onto the man before him.
"Just a small ripple of something much greater," Reynard replied, glancing at the fractured void around them. "But I wasn't just testing your strength… I was testing your perception."
"My perception?"
"Yes." Reynard gestured toward the Black Butterfly hovering behind Raine. "You still believe it to be a power you can wield in a conventional way."
"And you think you understand it better?" Raine asked, his tone carrying something else… a hidden challenge.
Reynard didn't laugh, but he looked at Raine as if seeing something intriguing.
"You're closer than anyone to something no one comprehends."
"But…" he continued, his golden eyes glimmering with a faint light, "what you'll uncover may not be something you truly want to know."
Raine was silent for a moment.
But it wasn't the silence of hesitation.
It was the silence of someone processing something unforeseen.
"Are you here to warn me?" he finally asked, his tone unchanged but now carrying a weight that hadn't been there before.
"Not exactly," Reynard replied. "I'm here… to see if you're ready for what's coming."
"And what is coming?"
For the first time, Reynard didn't answer immediately.
Then, after a brief pause, he said calmly:
"The end of the barrier."
Before Raine could respond, everything began to change.
The sky, the earth, the air… It was as if reality itself was losing its cohesion.
But this wasn't Reynard's doing.
It was the beginning of something else.
"It seems our time is up," Reynard said, glancing around before refocusing on Raine.
"If you want answers, you'll find them beyond the barrier."
"And where is this barrier?"
"It's not a place…" Reynard said as he turned to leave. "It's something you need to see for yourself."
And in the next moment, he vanished.
But Raine didn't move.
Because he finally felt it.
The thing that had been approaching all this time.
The end of the barrier… was closer than he had ever imagined.
To be continued…
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