The air shattered.
Not exploded.
Not ruptured.
Shattered—like glass under pressure.
Riku was the first to move.
"—MOVE!"
Space folded where Jinyoung stood a split second earlier.
A blade phased out of nothingness, missing his throat by centimeters.
The ground behind them died—not cracked, not frozen—ceased.
Riyomi vanished into shadow.
Too late.
A second presence appeared behind her, silent, precise—
Steel met steel.
Sparks didn't fly.
They were erased.
"Assassins," Riyomi muttered, eyes sharp.
"SS-rank. Multiversal."
Seven figures emerged.
No aura flares.
No killing intent leaks.
Professionals.
One stepped forward, mask etched with shifting symbols.
"Target confirmed," it said calmly.
"Monarch-adjacent. Unstable Duality."
Jinyoung's Duality reacted before he did.
Black/Purple surged.
White/Grey tried to suppress it.
The imbalance made his vision blur.
"—Don't let them separate us," Haru snapped, mana flaring.
Too late.
A sigil activated beneath Haru's feet.
Concept Lock: Mana Severance.
Haru coughed blood as his magic collapsed inward.
"Artillery disabled," an assassin said flatly.
Riku moved.
The world skipped frames.
He blitzed three assassins—
—and slammed into an invisible wall.
Time folded around his body.
"Speed-based entity neutralized," another voice said.
"Chrono Net active."
Riku screamed as reality dragged at his limbs.
Jinyoung felt it then.
Not fear.
Responsibility.
Duality exploded outward.
White/Grey erased the chrono field.
Black/Purple devoured the backlash.
Two assassins were torn apart mid-existence.
The rest adapted instantly.
Chains of glowing runes wrapped around Jinyoung.
Anti-Monarch restraints.
His knees slammed into the ground.
"You are not a god yet," the leader said.
"And you hesitate."
Riyomi struck.
One kill.
Clean.
Silent.
Then pain.
A dagger pierced her side—Soul-Tracking Venom.
She staggered.
Jinyoung's control snapped.
The Hollow surged.
"DEV—"
He stopped.
Barely.
The ground cracked anyway.
A city-sized shadow rippled beneath reality.
The assassins retreated immediately.
Objective complete.
One remained behind—watching.
"Interesting," it said.
"You chose restraint."
Then it vanished.
Silence followed.
Broken ground.
Bleeding allies.
Reality still trembling.
Jinyoung stood shaking.
Duality unstable.
Unmastered.
Dangerous.
Riyomi knelt, gripping her wound.
"They weren't here to kill you," she said quietly.
"They were here to measure you."
Haru looked up, grim.
"And now the multiverse knows."
Jinyoung clenched his fists.
For the first time since becoming a Monarch—
He understood.
This wasn't a climb anymore.
It was a hunt.
And he was no longer the hunter.