The silence in Saganbo's citadel wasn't broken, it was 'shattered'. Amado's final words : '"Engage without restraint"'; hung in the air, a command vibrating with the potential for infinite destruction. The colossal Multiversal Containment Barrier pulsed, its layered walls shimmering with the condensed light of countless galaxies trapped within its structure. It hummed with the density of collapsed universes, a pressure that pressed not on the body, but on the very concept of existence within its confines.
The four Monarchs designated for Saganbo's amusement stood bathed in the barrier's ethereal light.
Daganu; The silver-haired titan rolled his mountainous shoulders, the event-horizon armor drinking the light around him, leaving only an impression of terrifying mass and sharp edges. His obsidian eyes scanned the nascent cosmos within the barrier; swirling nebulae, infant stars igniting, spiral galaxies condensing out of structured void. A low rumble escaped him, the sound of continental plates settling. "As the Cosmic Will decrees," he murmured, the resignation in his voice belied by the predatory tension coiling in his immense frame.
Raimei; Sparks of violet lightning crackled across his spiky red hair, earthing harmlessly against his rigid posture. Sea-blue eyes, sharp as fractured ice, scanned his opponents with military precision. He gave a curt nod, energy humming within him like a primed reactor. "Understood, Sir! Calibration commencing!" His voice was clipped, eager, a soldier awaiting orders in the grandest theater of war.
Kokuto; The stoic swordsman's hand rested lightly on the worn hilt of his simple blade. His presence was a honed edge, radiating quiet lethality. He observed the unfolding pocket multiverse, his gaze lingering on Daganu's bulk and Raimei's crackling energy. "Acknowledged," he stated flatly. The blade hissed faintly within its scabbard, a sound like a universe holding its breath.
Soereichi; Leaning against nothing, the bald Monarch stifled another theatrical yawn. Jet-black eyes scanned the celestial stage with profound boredom. "Stress relief!" he declared, a feral grin splitting his face as his form began to subtly blur at the edges, tendrils of dark smoke radiating outwards. "Try not to break too easy, antiques. Wouldn't want the boss to get bored." His mocking gaze settled pointedly on Daganu and Kokuto.
"So," Soereichi drawled, stretching languidly despite the cosmic arena, the smoke around him thickening. "Who feels like volunteering as the first piñata? Or shall we just stand around admiring the wallpaper? Bit tacky for my tastes, honestly."
He never saw Daganu move. There was no blur, no sonic boom. One moment, the titan was standing light-years away across the artificial expanse, a dark silhouette against a nascent spiral galaxy. The next, the fabric of space-time folded around Soereichi. Daganu was simply there, his obsidian eyes devoid of expression, a mountain range condensed into a fist.
CRUNCH-OOOOOOM!
The impact wasn't just physical; it was a localized gravitational catastrophe. Soereichi's eyes bulged in genuine shock, the bored smirk wiped clean off his face. He didn't fly; he was erased from his position. Space itself recoiled as he became a dark comet streaking backwards at relativistic speeds, trailing shattered fragments of his smoky aura. He punched through a condensing nebula, scattering stellar nurseries, and vanished into the swirling depths of a distant galactic arm, disappearing from sight within a fraction of a second.
Kokuto's stoic mask cracked. His eyes, usually pools of calm lethality, snapped wide. "What Th–?" The question died in his throat.
Daganu wasn't done. He didn't turn; he simply reoriented. Kokuto felt the universe shift around him. The nascent stars overhead blurred into streaks. Daganu materialized directly in front of him, impossibly close, his obsidian gaze boring into Kokuto's widened eyes. The sheer, silent speed was more terrifying than any roar.
The titan's fist, encased in armor that warped light, lashed out. Not a technique, not a named strike. Just raw, unadulterated force delivered by a being who treated light-speed as a casual stroll.
THUD-WHAM!
Kokuto's world became a tunnel of distorted stars and crushing pressure. His blade, half-drawn, was slammed back into its scabbard by the sheer kinetic force. He hurtled backwards, a human-shaped projectile carving a trench of shattered spacetime through the pocket multiverse. He tumbled end over end for what felt like subjective minutes, finally impacting the swirling accretion disk of a supermassive black hole forming in the barrier's corner. The impact sent gravitational waves rippling outwards, distorting nearby constellations. He pushed himself up, bruised and winded, glaring across millions of kilometers of artificial space. *Damn... Not again...*
Daganu's gaze, devoid of triumph, settled on Raimei. The lightning-wreathed Monarch was the only one still standing near the starting point. "Easy win..." Daganu rumbled, the words echoing strangely in the vacuum.
He moved. Again, the transition was instantaneous, folding space to stand before Raimei. The same devastating punch lashed out, aimed to send the last piece off the board.
Raimei didn't dodge with speed. He sidestepped with excellent, preternatural grace. It wasn't a blur; it was a smooth, almost casual shift, as if he'd anticipated the punch's trajectory before Daganu even conceived it. Violet lightning flared around him, not offensively, but defensively. A surge of dense, controlled spiritual energy erupted from his core, forming a shimmering, crackling barrier mere centimeters before Daganu's fist.
FZZZZT-CRACK!
The impact resonated through the barrier's structure. Raimei skidded backwards dozens of kilometers, boots carving furrows in the solidified space beneath him, lightning spitting and grounding violently around him. He came to a halt, the cerulean energy barrier flickering but holding. He straightened, brushing non-existent dust from his rigid uniform. A slow, knowing smirk touched his lips. "I expected nothing less from you, Daganu. Well... if it wasn't for that speed you're so disproportionately proud of, you'd likely have been the first one ejected anyway."
Daganu's obsidian eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. The air around him grew heavy, light bending towards his armor. "Oh?" The single syllable vibrated with suppressed fury.
Raimei met his gaze unflinchingly, his sea-blue eyes cold and analytical. "Stripped of that singular advantage? You are fundamentally unremarkable, Daganu. A blunt instrument reliant solely on momentum. Without that speed... you are nothing."
The insult, delivered with cold, military precision, struck deeper than any physical blow. Daganu's roar was the sound of planets colliding, a psychic wave that made nearby nascent stars flicker and die. He vanished.
What followed wasn't a fight; it was a localized apocalypse centered on Raimei. Daganu reappeared not once, but in a million places simultaneously, a constellation of afterimages blurring into a solid sphere of violence around the lightning-wreathed Monarch. Fists moving faster than causality could track rained down; punches that could shatter systems, kicks that could alter a galaxy's flow, elbow strikes that warped spacetime itself. To Kokuto, observing from millions of kilometers away, it appeared as a single, churning sphere of distorted light and gravitational fury, a miniature Big Bang contained around Raimei.
Inside the maelstrom, Raimei's mind was a hyper-focused supercomputer. His eyes, enhanced by crackling violet energy, tracked not the fists themselves; that was impossible; but the infinitesimal distortions in space-time preceding each strike. His body moved with impossible economy, a hair's breadth shift here, a micro-dodge there, a crackling energy shield flaring to deflect a glancing blow. His uniform ripped, blood welled from micro-tears caused by near-misses, but he flowed like water around a boulder. *Really Fast. Really, Really Fast! Impossible speed! Evading is nigh-impossible, I'm barely keeping up*
Then Daganu struck. Not just faster than light, but faster than thought. A punch delivered not through space, but by collapsing the distance between intention and impact into zero. It bypassed Raimei's predictive algorithms, his preternatural reflexes. It was here, aimed squarely at his sternum, a nigh-guaranteed obliteration.
Raimei's eyes widened a fraction. *No evasion possible. No shield will save me from this. Impact is imminent.*
He braced, pouring pure spiritual energy into his core, reinforcing his physical structure to its absolute limit. He didn't try to block; he prepared to absorb.
THOOOOOM-KRACK!
The sound was the universe cracking a knuckle. Raimei didn't fly back; he was hammered into the fabric of the pocket dimension. Space fractured beneath his boots in a spiderweb pattern light-years across. He felt ribs splinter, organs compress, blood; a shocking crimson against his pale skin; erupting into his mouth. He choked, spitting a thick globule that froze instantly in the vacuum. He skidded to a halt, bent double, lightning sputtering erratically around him.
Daganu materialized before him, the storm of afterimages collapsing into his singular, imposing form. He looked down at the coughing, bleeding Monarch. A flicker of brutal satisfaction crossed his stony features. "Alright," he declared, the word final, absolute. "You're done."
As the word "done" left his lips, the impossible happened. Daganu blinked. Instead of the wounded Raimei, he saw Saganbo's citadel. He was standing outside the Multiversal Containment Barrier. Saganbo lounged on his neutron-star throne, observing him with an expression that wasn't quite surprise, more... detached assessment. 'As expected,' it seemed to say.
Daganu stared, utterly bewildered. His fists were still clenched, his armor thrumming with residual kinetic energy, but the pocket multiverse, the battlefield, Raimei... all gone. "?????" The confusion was a physical sensation, cold and jarring.
Inside the barrier, Raimei straightened. The blood vanished from his lips and uniform as if it had never existed. The fractured space beneath his boots smoothed over instantly. He met Kokuto's stunned gaze from across the void. A small, enigmatic smile played on his lips. "That," he stated calmly, his voice carrying effortlessly through the vacuum, "was today's Trick." He then sighed, "That was what I would like to say but It feels like a copy of Khoseph."
Before Kokuto could process this, Raimei staggered. A tremendous, concussive shockwave erupted from behind him, slamming into his back with the force of a supernova. It wasn't a physical blow; it felt like pure, concentrated forgetfulness impacting his mind. Raimei gasped, clutching his head. The memory of the shockwave, its origin, its impact; it all dissolved like smoke. One moment he was standing triumphant after negating Daganu's final blow, the next he was reeling from... nothing. It simply hadn't happened. The conceptual anchor for the event had been severed.
*What? Instability? Sensor ghost?* His mind scrambled, finding no purchase for the sensation.
Kokuto saw the opening. He hadn't walked millions of kilometers; he'd folded space with lethal intent, appearing silently above Raimei in the micro-second of disorientation. His simple blade, now wreathed in a nimbus of silver-grey spiritual energy that hummed with the finality of entropy, lashed down in a perfect, silent arc.
SHINK!
The blade met no resistance. It passed through Raimei's left shoulder and arm as if they were mist. Crimson blood, impossibly bright against the cosmic backdrop, geysered into the void in a horrifyingly beautiful arc. Raimei screamed, a raw sound of shock and pain, clutching at the stump where his arm had been. Kokuto landed lightly, blade held ready, his stoic expression replaced by focused intensity.
Raimei whirled, pain and fury warring in his sea-blue eyes. He scanned the void, his gaze locking not on Kokuto, but on a point of swirling darkness nearby. "Oh," he hissed, his voice tight with agony and sudden understanding. "So you're the one who hit me earlier? That shockwave..." As he spoke, the impossible happened again. The gushing blood ceased. The severed arm wasn't regenerated; it simply... reappeared. Seamlessly attached, no scar, no torn fabric. As if the cut had never occurred. Kokuto stared, his grip on his blade tightening until the worn leather creaked.
Soereichi flickered into visibility nearby, his bald head gleaming under the light of a nearby blue giant star. His eyes were wide with disbelief. "Huh?! There is no way! You can't actually perceive something I did while I was Invisible, or remember whatev—" He cut off, staring at his own hands, then at Raimei's perfectly intact arm. A cold dread washed over him. He hadn't chosen to become visible. His control, his fundamental trick of erasing perception, had been... overridden. "What...?" The word was a whisper of pure confusion.
Kokuto tore his gaze from Raimei's restored arm to Soereichi. The tactical part of his mind, honed by eons of lethal simplicity, overrode the bewilderment. "I don't even know what's happening," he stated, his voice low and dangerous, "but let's take him down together. Then... the best man wins." Survival first. Understanding later.
Soereichi, still reeling from the violation of his ability, swallowed hard and nodded. Fear was replaced by a spark of predatory alliance. "Yeah. Okay. This bastard needs to go down."
Raimei chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. He flexed his restored hand. "Oh? Teaming up? How delightfully predictable." He spread his arms wide in a mocking gesture of invitation. "Come on then, you two... Give me something more substantial. Show me why Lord Saganbo keeps you around."
Kokuto blurred, not with Daganu's reality-folding speed, but with terrifying, straight-line velocity that warped space around him. His blade became a streak of silver death aimed at Raimei's heart. Simultaneously, Soereichi *winked* out of existence, not just visually, but conceptually erased from the perception of both Raimei and Kokuto.
Kokuto closed the distance. Raimei stood utterly defenseless, a slight smirk on his lips. The swordsman poured his entire being, every ounce of his Monarch-level spiritual energy honed to a killing edge, into a single, perfect draw-cut; "Firmament's Guillotine"
SHIIIIIIING!
The blade passed through Raimei's torso in a horizontal arc that should have bisected him cleanly. Kokuto felt the resistance, saw the blade complete its path. He landed smoothly, ten kilometers away, already turning, blade held low and ready.
If it wasn't for Raimei's body blocking the slash the entirety of the Multiverse beyond Raimei would have been cut, That was the Swordwrath Monarch's epitomy, Firmament's Guillotine, A slash capable of cutting even spacetime itself.
Raimei stood exactly where he'd been. Whole. Unharmed. Not a scratch on his uniform. He tilted his head, looking at Kokuto with an expression of exaggerated pity. "Why are you so surprised, Kokuto?" he asked, his voice dripping with mock confusion. "You just never actually slashed me, did you?" He paused, letting the impossibility sink in. "Oh," he added, turning slightly as if addressing empty space, "and Soereichi? Your little trick is fundamentally ineffective against me."
As he spoke the last word, space ripped violently ten meters away. Soereichi materialized with a sickening thud, as if punched by a planet. He tumbled backwards through the void, clutching his face, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, his form flickering wildly between visibility and his preferred state of non-existence. He came to a crashing halt against a rogue planetoid, cracking its surface. "What the HELL is he?!" Soereichi gasped, spitting blood, his eyes wide with terror and rage. He hadn't chosen to reappear. He'd been forced out.
Kokuto refused to yield. Confusion was a luxury he couldn't afford. If he couldn't cut using his skills, he'd use pure force. He gathered his immense spiritual energy, compressing it around his blade until it glowed like a captured white dwarf. He roared, a sound that vibrated spacetime, and unleashed a barrage of energy slashes; crescent waves of annihilating force capable of shearing star systems. They screamed towards Raimei, filling the void with blinding light and destructive potential.
Raimei didn't move. He didn't raise a shield. He simply stood there, the enigmatic smile back on his lips.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The energy waves struck. Nebulae nearby were vaporized. Planetoids shattered into asteroid fields. But where Raimei stood... nothing. The cataclysmic energy washed over him, through him, like he was a ghost. When the light faded, he stood untouched, not a hair out of place. Only a faint, almost invisible scratch appeared high on his cheekbone, beading a single drop of blood that quickly vanished.
Kokuto lowered his blade, breathing heavily, his stoic facade shattered by utter disbelief. "Impossible," he breathed. "Our spiritual densities... they shouldn't be orders of magnitude apart! How can you just... ignore that?!"
Raimei raised a finger, wiping away the non-existent blood. His smirk widened into something predatory. "I made you 'think' so, Kokuto," he purred. "Right now? My spiritual energy reserves dwarf anything you could ever hope to achieve. It's not suppression. It's... amplification."
Kokuto felt a chill deeper than the void. Raimei's energy signature hadn't spiked; it felt the same as before. Yet, Kokuto's attacks had been rendered negligible. It wasn't that Raimei had grown stronger; it was that Kokuto's perception of their relative strengths, the very reality of their power differential, had been altered. Negated. Replaced.
Raimei's gaze swept the artificial cosmos. "You're the last one standing... Daganu dismissed, Soereichi neutralized..." He raised a hand, crackling violet energy gathering around it, condensing into a sphere of pure, annihilating energy. "I'll conclude this efficiently now."
*Last one?* Kokuto's heart leapt. *Soereichi! His power finally worked! Raimei has forgotten him!* Hope surged. This was the opening! He gathered his energy, preparing a desperate, coordinated strike, hoping Soereichi would exploit the distraction from the shadows. He lunged forward, blade aimed not to kill, but to create an opportunity.
As he moved, his eyes instinctively scanned the void for any sign of their hidden ally. He saw nothing near Raimei. Then, his gaze caught movement near the edge of the barrier, millions of kilometers away. Soereichi was there, slumped against the shimmering wall of compressed galaxies... No he was beyond them, out of the battlefield, nursing his face, looking dazed and utterly defeated. He wasn't hiding; he was out.
Kokuto skidded to a halt, his momentum dying. "...When did h–" he started, confusion warring with dawning horror.
He didn't finish. The pocket multiverse dissolved around him. The swirling galaxies, the nascent stars, the scent of ozone and cosmic dust; gone. He was standing beside Daganu, Soereichi, and Amado, back on the cracked obsidian dais within Saganbo's citadel. He stared at the now-quiescent Multiversal Containment Barrier, its surface showing only a reflection of the throne room. Raimei stood alone within its confines, the violet energy around his hand dissipating, a look of serene satisfaction on his face.
*What the hell just happened?* Kokuto's mind reeled. *When? How? Did I... did I just cease to exist within the scenario?*
Amado's calm, chilling voice cut through the stunned silence. "Assessment concluded. Victor: Raimei. Kokuto's the last one out, Soereichi second and Daganu was the first to lose."
Raimei stepped smoothly out of the barrier as it dissolved into shimmering motes of light. He gave a sharp, formal bow towards Saganbo. "Mission accomplished, Lord Saganbo, I crushed the others."
Saganbo who was only watching for enjoyement dismissed him, "Y-Yeah, sure..."
Kokuto turned to Soereichi, who was gingerly probing his swollen nose. "Did you... see? Feel?" Kokuto asked, his voice low, strained.
Soereichi spat a globule of blood onto the pristine floor, glaring at Raimei. "See? Feel? All I felt was getting my face rearranged by nothing! And then I was just... here. Outside. Like I'd never even gone in! His power... it's not invisibility. It's not memory wiping. It's... unmaking. Making things not have happened to him. Or making us not have been there. That's what I thought at least." He shuddered. "Absurd."
Kokuto nodded grimly, his gaze fixed on the unnervingly calm Raimei. "He could have ejected us the moment we entered. Probably Daganu too. Why the performance?"
"Probably to gather data," Soereichi muttered bitterly. "Or just because he enjoys watching us squirm."
Saganbo, reclining on his throne, steepled his fingers. A flicker of genuine, cold fascination shone in his ancient eyes. "He probably could," Saganbo stated, his voice echoing in the vast chamber. "Expediency isn't always the most... illuminating path."
Kokuto clenched his fists. *I need to understand. The specifics. The limits. His actual powers... I don't think Soereichi deduced correctly. How do you fight someone who can negate your existence within a conflict with a thought? If that's even what he does?*
Raimei stood rigidly at attention, but a faint, triumphant smirk played on his lips. "The exercise proved less challenging than anticipated. They were all easier than I thought, Well Kokuto probably could have put up an even better fight than he did... Dissapointing"
Daganu, who had been silently fuming on the floor, pushed himself up with a low growl. "Arrogant whelp."
Soereichi suddenly slammed a fist into his palm, eyes blazing with manic energy. "I DEMAND A REMATCH! Proper rules! No holding back! That was... unsatisfying!"
Kokuto managed a wry, sarcastic smile. "I guess he would just negate your entry right off the bat. Save himself the trouble."
Soereichi whirled on him, then grinned fiercely. "Then let's make it a FIGHT TO THE DEATH! No barriers, no protocols, no Saganbo-interference! Just him and me! Raw power vs. reality hacking! Winner takes the bragging rights!" The idea seemed to energize him, pushing aside the fear.
Daganu, surprisingly, gave a slow, deep nod that made the floor tremble. He looked at Soereichi, a glimmer of something almost like respect in his obsidian eyes. "You... actually came up with something interesting. For once."
Soereichi beamed, puffing out his chest. "I know, right?! Finally, someone appreciates–"
"SHUT UP YOU BOTH!!!"
Saganbo's psychic roar wasn't sound; it was a physical tsunami of pure will that slammed into them. The citadel groaned. Hairline cracks raced across the neutron star throne. Kokuto and Raimei staggered. Daganu grunted, bracing himself. Soereichi was flung backwards, crashing into a pillar with a yelp.
Saganbo's fury radiated like heat from a forge. "I! AM! THE ONE! WHO DECIDES THE REMATCHES! AND YOU! ARE! DISMISSED! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I UNMAKE YOUR CONCEPTS MYSELF!"
The command was absolute, laced with the promise of non-existence. Soereichi scrambled up, clutching his ribs. Daganu straightened, his face impassive but his eyes smoldering. Kokuto sheathed his blade with deliberate calm. Raimei snapped back to rigid attention.
In unison, the four Monarchs bowed. "Yes, Sir!" Their voices, though unified, carried distinct undercurrents: resentment, relief, frustration, and cold satisfaction.
Without another word, they turned. Space rippled around each. Daganu seemed to fold into his own shadow. Raimei dissolved into crackling violet static. Kokuto took a single step and vanished like a snuffed candle. Soereichi glared at Raimei's fading afterimage, muttered "This isn't over, Blue Boy," and melted into swirling darkness that dissipated instantly.
Silence descended, thicker and heavier than before. Amado stood like a blue statue beside the throne. Saganbo steepled his fingers again, the purple hair shimmering like captured nebulae. "So," his voice was a low rumble, "have Nirvana and Torento located our troublesome spark yet? Or are they still admiring the cosmic scenery?"
Amado inclined his head fractionally. "Of course not, My Lord. They remain within the observational parameters of the 3321st Universe. Scanning patterns indicate focused search vectors, but target acquisition remains negative."
Saganbo leaned back, a low hum vibrating in his chest. "I see... Patience. It will make the quenching sweeter."
Meanwhile: The 6th Universe – Sanctuary of Stone and Silence
The transition was jarring. One moment, the searing agony of galactic annihilation shockwaves and Amado's spatial negation. The next, cool, damp stone beneath them, the scent of ancient rock and ozone thick in the air. They stood in a vast, natural cavern, illuminated by bioluminescent fungi clinging to towering stalactites. A subterranean river whispered nearby. The silence was profound, a stark contrast to the screaming void.
Merus sagged against a smooth rock wall, his pearlescent suit charred and cracked, luminous blue blood staining the pearlescent material across his chest and leg. His breath came in ragged gasps. The cerulean light of his creation energy flickered weakly, a dying star. "Alright... Here..." he managed, his voice strained. "This pocket dimension... anchored deep within a rogue planetoid... should be shielded. Saganbo's eyes... will find it difficult to pierce these layers of dead rock and dimensional static."
Shinji pushed himself upright, wincing. His own injuries were knitting rapidly under Act 1's relentless drive, but the internal ache from Amado's negation wave lingered, a deep bruise on his spirit. He looked around the cavern; vast, silent, primordial. A hiding place. "Thanks, Merus," he said, the gratitude simple but profound. He owed this battered god more than he could ever repay.
Merus waved a weary hand, the gesture sending a small cascade of luminous blood droplets spattering on the stone floor. "It's... nothing. You saved me yourself." He met Shinji's stellar blue eyes, his own glacial gaze filled with a deep, weary concern. "You... are truly in the crucible now, Shinji. The declaration is made. The hunt is global. Universal. Multiversal. Every shadow, every star, could hold an enemy. Every bounty hunter, every mercenary fleet, every hidden power Saganbo can sway... they will come for you."
Shinji flexed his hand, watching the faint gold-green shimmer of Act 3 energy dance around his knuckles. The weight was immense, a collapsing star on his shoulders. "I guess so," he replied, his voice low but steady. Enemy of the Cosmos. The label fit. He looked down at the third figure sprawled unconscious on the cavern floor; Shirou, the bounty hunter, his custom rifle lying beside him, armor scuffed but intact. Shinji nudged him with a boot. "Hey. Shirou. Wake up!"
Merus frowned, a flicker of disapproval crossing his strained features. "What do you intend to do with him? You should have ended him back in the void. He's a liability. A vector for tracking. Sentimentality is a luxury we cannot afford."
Shinji looked down at the unconscious hunter. Cocky, persistent, annoying. But... not inherently evil. Just a mercenary playing a deadly game with the highest stakes. "Nah," Shinji said, a hint of his old stubbornness surfacing. "He seems... useful. Resourceful. Knows the underbelly of the cosmos better than we do. And he's got grit." He met Merus's concerned gaze. "I won't kill him. Not yet."
Merus studied Shinji for a long moment, then sighed, a sound like wind through broken spires. "I see. Your path. Your conscience. But watch him. Closely."
Shinji nodded. He stepped over to Shirou, crouching down. He studied the hunter's face; the cocky grin absent in unconsciousness, replaced by a slackness that made him look younger. Useful? Maybe. Annoying? Definitely. Shinji drew his hand back, Act 3 energy flaring subtly around his palm, not for healing, but for pure kinetic force. "Wakey wakey, bounty boy."
He swung. Not a gentle tap. A full-force, open-handed slap fueled by transcendent strength and a significant amount of pent-up cosmic frustration.
WHAP-SHOCKWAVE!
The impact echoed like a thunderclap within the cavern. Stalactites trembled. Dust rained from the ceiling. A visible ripple of distorted air pulsed outwards from Shirou's head.
"OUCH!!!!" Shirou's eyes snapped open, wide with terror and disorientation. He jackknifed into a sitting position, clutching his rapidly reddening cheek, his other hand scrabbling blindly for his rifle. "Stars and black holes! What hit me? A freighter?!" He blinked, his vision swimming, taking in the dim cavern, the glowing fungi, the battered god leaning against the wall, and the young man crouching before him with a look that was equal parts annoyance and grim determination. His gaze finally locked onto Shinji. Confusion warred with dawning recognition and fear. "Where... Where am I? What fresh hell is this?"
Shinji leaned closer, his stellar blue eyes glinting in the bioluminescent light. A cold, dangerous smile touched his lips. "Let's just say," he murmured, the words dropping like stones into the cavern's silence, "you missed the express shuttle. Welcome to the scenic route... partner." He gestured vaguely around the ancient, hidden cavern. "Welcome to Hell."