The Cartoony Dog lunged.
Reality bent like stretched ink as its grin widened, paws crashing down with impossible weight. Entire chunks of Vikka's street folded into flat sketches before snapping back into existence.
Brush moved to step forward—
"Don't."
Hikaru was already there.
Her katana screamed as ancient runes ignited, not with flame—but with inevitability. This was not a strike meant for flesh.
This was a strike meant for fate itself.
"I cut what comes next."
She swung.
The blade didn't touch the Cartoony Dog's body.
It sliced behind it.
A thin, glowing thread—twisted, looping, animated like a broken cartoon reel—was severed in absolute silence.
The Cartoony Dog froze.
Its grin cracked.
"No… no no no—HEY—!"
Its future collapsed. The laughter cut short, rewinding into static as its existence began to unravel, frames skipping, form glitching.
But fate does not break without consequence.
A violent backlash erupted.
Hikaru was thrown back, crashing to one knee. Her katana clattered across the ground, runes flickering wildly.
Her arm—the one that delivered the strike—hung uselessly at her side, trembling, glowing with unstable fate-scars. Not bleeding. Not torn.
But gravely injured—as if destiny itself had rejected her for touching it.
"Hikaru!" Brush shouted, catching her before she could fall.
She tried to smile. Failed.
"…Worth it," she whispered. "It won't… reach you anymore."
Behind them, the Cartoony Dog let out one final distorted whine before collapsing into nothing but erased lines and static, its existence permanently removed from the flow of outcomes.
Crunchyroller descended, eyes wide.
ANALYSIS COMPLETE. Target's fate: deleted. Hikaru's condition: CRITICAL. Cause: Direct fate severance backlash.
Mia Rika rushed forward, hands glowing, tails bristling in panic. "I—I can stabilize her, but… this injury isn't physical. It's written into her future!"
Brush clenched his fists.
His determination surged violently, the air shaking as every summon resonated with his will.
"No. I won't accept this ending."
Hikaru looked up at him, calm despite the pain.
"…That's why," she said softly, "you're the Chosen One."
She leaned into him slightly—trusting him completely—as the battlefield went silent.
Somewhere far beyond Vikka…
Something noticed that fate had been cut.
And it was not pleased.